A nurse preparing an injection of Pfizer-BioNtech's covid-19 vaccine in Belfast on Dec. 6. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Images via Getty Images)
A CDC panel voted 11 to 0 to recommend Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate for people 16 years and older on Saturday.
Why it matters: The recommendation moves the U.S. one step closer to immunizing Americans after the virus has killed more than 296,000 people in the country.
Of note: CDC Director Robert Redfield still needs to approve the recommendation from the the outside group of medical experts before vaccines can be administered.
- He is expected to accept it within hours, CNN reports.
- Three panel members recused themselves from the vote because of conflicts of interest.
The big picture: The recommendation follows the Food and Drug Administration's Friday approval of Pfizer-BioNTech's emergency use authorization application.
- The U.K. became the first country to grant emergency approval for the Pfizer vaccine on Dec. 2, followed by Bahrain and Canada.