First Authorized COVID-19 Vaccine in the World

The mRNA COVID-19 vaccine developed by Mainz-based BioNTech together with US partner Pfizer became the first COVID-19 vaccine authorized for use anywhere in the world when UK regulators granted emergency approval on December 2, 2020. BioNTech, founded in 2008, had been developing mRNA vaccine technology for over a decade before the pandemic began.