The united States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Saturday it had approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for the pilots and air traffic controllers. The U.S. aviation regulator said those who received the vaccine doses, the pilots and controllers must not fly or conduct safety-related duties for 48 hours. The FAA said it will "monitor the patient response to Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and may adjust this policy as necessary to ensure aviation safety."
The FAA added that additional vaccines will each be evaluated as emergency use authorizations are issued by the Food and Drug Administration. Airlines and the aviation unions are still working on how to administer the vaccine to pilots and flight attendants upon its availability to their group, and preparing for the possibility that some countries require crew to be vaccinated before flying there, people familiar with the matter said.
The FAA has already sent guidance to airports to get ready for the vaccine distribution, including other facilities that may serve as alternate or diversion airports. The FAA pointed out that some aircraft used for vaccine shipments may might be larger than the passenger carrying aircraft that typically serve that airport and operators may opt to have extra aircraft rescue and firefighting services.
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