Experts are making a critical decision on Pfizer's vaccine

Welcome to Business Insider's daily healthcare newsletter, your daily dose of pharma, biotech, and healthcare news. Subscribe here to get this newsletter in your inbox every weekday.

Hello,

Good morning! An expert FDA panel is meeting today to discuss Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine. Our reporters Andrew Dunn and Hilary Brueck are following along with every update in a live blog.

You can follow along with their coverage all day leading up to the vote here.

Today in healthcare news: Canada approved Pfizer and BioNTech's shot, details on the $908 billion stimulus deal, and what you can and can't do after getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

Canada beats the US to approving Pfizer and BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine

• Canada approved the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for use, the government announced on Wednesday.
• "Canadians can feel confident that the review process was rigorous and that we have strong monitoring systems in place," Health Canada, the country's department of health, said in a statement.
• The vaccine was approved for use in the UK on Dec. 2, and the first doses were administered on Tuesday.
• In the US, Pfizer has submitted findings from its late-stage trial to the FDA for review, but authorization is still pending.

Read the full story from Isabella Jibilian here>>

New document shows all the details of the $908 billion bipartisan coronavirus stimulus in the works

• Insider obtained a copy of a document laying out the coronavirus stimulus deal that a bipartisan group of lawmakers announced last week.
• The stimulus may be the only chance Congress has at passing relief before the end of the year.
• The document shows that negotiations on liability protections for corporations are ongoing.
• The package doesn't contain direct payments in the form of checks, something Democrats and the White House are pushing for.

Read the full story from Kimberly Leonard here>>

What you can and can't do after getting the coronavirus vaccine

• Getting a coronavirus vaccine isn't a free pass to pursue pre-COVID activities, like not wearing a mask and huddling close to strangers.
• Because we don't yet know whether the vaccine protects recipients from spreading the virus to others, continuing to follow public health protocols against disease transmission is key.
• The vaccine also won't protect recipients right away, and it won't protect a very small percent at all.
• Vaccinated people can, however, begin to make plans for 2021 and look forward to resuming aspects of the old normal as more and more people get vaccinated.

Read the full story from Anna Medaris Miller here>>

More stories we're reading:

• Johnson & Johnson has cut the size of its vaccine trial from 60,000 to 40,000 because of how prevalent COVID-19 is in the US (Stat News)
• Cuomo says he thinks the FDA might authorize Pfizer's vaccine on Thursday, with New Yorkers getting shots 'as soon as this weekend' (Business Insider)
• How AstraZeneca and Oxford's vaccine fell behind in the US (The New York Times)
• Biden nominates a disease-fighting celebrity as beloved as Dr. Fauci to run the CDC: 'She's the full package' (Business Insider)

- Lydia