U.S. CDC director 'proud' to sign advisory panel recommendation of COVID vaccine

FILE PHOTO: Robert Redfield, MD, Director, United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testifies during a U.S. Senate Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Hearing to examine COVID-19, focusing on an update on the federal response at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 23, 2020. Alex Edelman/Pool via REUTERS

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield said on Sunday that he had signed a CDC advisory panel's recommendation of Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) on Saturday voted 11 to 0 to recommend the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech SE as appropriate for Americans 16 and older. The Food and Drug Administration on Friday issued an emergency use authorization for the vaccine.

"Last night, I was proud to sign the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' recommendation to use Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine in people 16 and older", Redfield said in a statement on Sunday.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Daniel Wallis)