After nine hours of deliberation Thursday, a special panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved for emergency use a coronavirus vaccine developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech. The decision was made as the U.S. continues to confirm record numbers of coronavirus cases. As of Thursday evening, the U.S. had recorded 15.5 million cases and more than 291,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Of the 22 people on the special panel of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 17 voted yes, four voted no and one abstained on the question: “Based on the totality of scientific evidence available, do the benefits of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine outweigh its risks for use in individuals 16 years of age and older?” With the recommendation of the emergency use authorization by the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, the FDA will likely give its final consent as early as …

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says “vaccine nationalism” is on the rise as wealthier nations line up to buy millions of doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines at the expense of much poorer nations.During a virtual meeting Wednesday with African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat, Guterres called for contributions of $4.2 billion over the next two months for the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, or COVAX, the joint project between the World Health Organization, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, an organization founded by Bill and Melinda Gates to vaccinate children in the world’s poorest countries.     FILE – Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends a news conference in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Dec. 7, 2020.Canada approves vaccine Canada’s national health agency, Health Canada, announced Wednesday it has approved Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, and Canadians will start receiving it as early as next week. Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Nears Approval for …

NASA on Wednesday formally introduced 18 astronauts who will take part in the U.S. space agency’s new manned lunar program.Nine men and nine women are the first group of astronauts assigned to the Artemis program, half of whom have already flown into space. Two of the Artemis astronauts, Victor Glover and Kate Rubins, are currently serving on the International Space Station as part of the first full-fledged crew to fly aboard the privately owned SpaceX Crew Dragon.The Artemis astronauts also include Christina Koch and Jessica Meir, who conducted the world’s first all-female spacewalk last year at the ISS.Vice President Mike Pence, who led the introduction ceremony at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, hailed the Artemis astronauts as “the future of American space exploration – and that future is bright.”The first Artemis mission, tentatively scheduled for next year, will be an unmanned test flight of NASA’s powerful new Space Launch …