Coronavirus Watch: What to know about the Pfizer vaccine

The Food and Drug Administration released a 53-page report Tuesday supporting earlier findings that the vaccine candidate from Pfizer and BioNTech is safe and effective. Here's what to know:

• The data shows it will prevent 95% of people from becoming sick with COVID-19.
• The companies are asking the FDA for authorization to use the vaccine in people ages 16 and up. They have also begun testing the vaccine in ages 12-15 but have not yet accumulated enough data to request authorization in that age group.
• The report provides more detail on how certain groups of people fared with the vaccine, including people over 65, those with preexisting medical conditions, like diabetes, and those who are Black and/or Hispanic – all of whom appeared to be as well protected as the general population.

It's Tuesday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more vaccine news that you need to know.

• Vaccine timeline: An FDA panel will consider an emergency use authorization for the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine on Thursday and send recommendations to the agency that night. The FDA could authorize the vaccine within hours, and the White House has promised to get vaccine to all 50 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories within 24 hours of the decision.
• Most states are ready to distribute a vaccine to health care workers but maybe not all who are next in line, a Paste BN survey finds.
• The White House is dismissing reports that the administration passed on buying additional doses of Pfizer's vaccine before other countries cut their deals.
• Speaking of other countries, Britain became the first western nation to start vaccinating its population against the coronavirus on Tuesday.
• And Russia is beginning mass vaccinations as well. But there is a hitch: Recipients aren't supposed to drink alcohol for almost two months. That's a tough ask in a country where some polls indicate only about 25% of the population was willing to get vaccinated.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported nearly 15 million cases and over 284,000 deaths. Globally, there have been over 67.8 million cases and 1.5 million fatalities. See the numbers in your area here, and check out where cases are rising here.

William Shakespeare? The second person in the world to receive Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine shares the same name as the U.K.'s most famous poet and playwright. Shakespeare, 81, is known to friends and family as "Bill," and he said he was "pleased" to get the shot.

What do you want to know about the vaccine? We're taking your vaccine questions through this online form, and we'll answer them here.

– Grace Hauck, Paste BN breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck