Covid: White House summons FDA chief to discuss why agency isn’t moving faster on vaccine

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows summoned Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn to discuss why the agency hasn’t moved faster to authorize Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to NBC News. Pfizer, which is working with German drugmaker BioNtech, applied for emergency clearance from the FDA on Nov. 20. The FDA has scheduled a meeting for Dec. 10 to discuss Pfizer and BioNtech’s request for authorization. Hahn arrived at the White House shortly before the 9:30 a.m. meeting with Meadows and left the West Wing a few minutes before 11:00 a.m. Hahn prepared for the meeting by assembling talking points “focused purely on vaccines and therapies,” a senior administration official told CNBC. The FDA commissioner planned to give Meadows “just an update on where things stand.”

Covid: White House summons FDA chief to discuss why agency isn’t moving faster on vaccine