A high ranking White House official told a news agency that he could face firing if the vaccine was not cleared by Friday's end, two administration officials said few hours before the Food and Drug Administration authorised the first COVD-19 vaccine late Friday. FDA approved emergency use approval for the Pfizer and Bharat BioNTech on Friday kick starting a massive vaccination programme in the country. 

President Donald Trump said late Friday that Pfizer had "passed the gold standard of safety" and hailed the vaccine as "one of the greatest scientific accomplishments in history." White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn were pulled inside a tensed discussion about the move, reveals a senior administration official. The chief of staff told Hahn his job was in trouble if the emergency use authorization was not issued before Saturday, said a second administration official familiar with the conversation. 

On Friday FDA chief said he had issued a statement indicating the agency was working rapidly to clear the vaccine. Friday's threat is an illustration of the latest attempt by the Trump administration to override government scientists working to combat the deadly pandemic. Even with an FDA decision expected within hours, Trump and his deputies proved not interested to allow the drug regulators work through their careful review, which includes drafting safety warning labels and instructions for physicians. Earlier on Friday, Trump tweeted directly at FDA chief that FDA "is still a big, old, slow turtle." "Get the dam vaccines out NOW, Dr. Hahn," Trump tweeted Friday. "Stop playing games and start saving lives."

US FDA advisory recommends emergency approval of Pfizer Co-Vaccine

Alembic’s Rhizen gets USFDA nod to study oral DHODH for SARS-CoV-2 infection

Twitter says it inadvertently restricted engagements on Trump's flagged tweets