White House presses Hahn to approve vaccine

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows pressed Food and Drug Administration chief Stephen Hahn to grant an emergency use authorisation for Pfizers coronavirus vaccine by the end of the Friday.

The vaccine won approval Thursday from an FDA panel of outside advisers, and signoff from the FDA is the next step needed to get the shots to the public.

Meadows spoke to Hahn by telephone on Friday, according to a senior official familiar with the call but not authorised to discuss private conversations.

Hahn signalled that he would tell regulators to do so, the official said.

President Donald Trump has been pressing for quick approval for the vaccine.

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