The risks and challenges of the global COVID-19-vaccine rollout

The COVID-19 vaccines of the BioNTech and Pfizer partnership (Pfizer–BioNTech) and Moderna have received Emergency Use Authorization in Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other countries. Many frontline workers and priority population segments have received their first doses. Vaccines from AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and several other global manufacturers also are arriving and being distributed for administration around the world. This monumental global effort has shattered the record for vaccine development: the fastest previous vaccine project, Merck’s mumps vaccine, was four and a half years in development (1963–67).