The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has scheduled a meeting of its Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee on December 10 to discuss the request for emergency use authorization (EUA) of a COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer, Inc. in partnership with BionTech Manufacturing GmbH.

According to the FDA, which published a release on November 20, the FDA intends to issue a Federal Register notice this week (November 23) with details of the meeting, which will include information about a public docket for comments. The agency said it intends to livestream the meeting on the its YouTube, Facebook and Twitter channels. 

The news of a vaccine is of particular importance to the food and beverage industry, whose thousands of employees are on the frontlines of keeping the entire country fed. We reported back in September that the Consumer Brands Association (CBA) sent a letter to CDC Director Robert Redfield urging Tier 2 vaccine priority access for food and consumer goods manufacturing employees.

“The FDA has been preparing for the review of EUAs for COVID-19 vaccines for several months and stands ready to do so as soon as an EUA request is submitted," said said FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, M.D. in a statement. "While we cannot predict how long the FDA’s review will take, the FDA will review the request as expeditiously as possible, while still doing so in a thorough and science-based manner, so that we can help make available a vaccine that the American people deserve as soon as possible."