FDA advisers recommend authorization of Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine

 By Maggie Fox, CNN

(CNN) -- The US Food and Drug Administration's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted Thursday to recommend the agency grant emergency use authorization to Pfizer and BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine.

Seventeen members voted yes, four voted no and one abstained.

This vote doesn't mean the vaccine will be authorized immediately.

The FDA will now decide whether to accept the recommendation, but has signaled that it will issue the EUA for the vaccine.

Then, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices must meet to decide whether it recommends that the vaccine be deployed for use. ACIP has a meeting scheduled for Friday, and expects to vote during another meeting, scheduled for Sunday.

Operation Warp Speed officials say they will start shipping the vaccine within 24 hours of FDA authorization.

The VRPBAC is also scheduled to meet again next week to discuss Moderna's EUA application.