Pfizer's vaccine authorization means 2.9 million high-risk people will get the shot within days — the first step in a 9-month path to normalcy Aria Bendix A nurse prepares to inject staff with the Pfizer/BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine at Bradley Manor residential care home in the UK on December 9, 2020. The FDA has authorised the first coronavirus vaccine in the US, a two-dose regimen from Pfizer and BioNTech. Some frontline healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities could receive the shots in as little as 24 hours, likely on Monday. The US could immunize 20 million people by the end of 2020, but social distancing and mask wearing will need to continue well into 2021.