The World Health Organization has granted its first emergency use validation to BioNTech-Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine.

UN health agency says emergency use listing ‘opens the door’ for countries to expedite their vaccine approval processes.

The World Health Organization has listed Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, a critical step that the United Nations health agency said aims to make the vaccine more readily available in developing nations.

In a statement on Thursday, WHO said its validation of the vaccine – the first since the start of the pandemic – “opens the door for countries to expedite their own regulatory approval processes to import and administer the vaccine”.

It will also allow groups, such as UNICEF and the Pan-American Health Organization, “to procure the vaccine for distribution to countries in need”, the WHO said.

“This is a very positive step towards ensuring global access to COVID-19 vaccines,” Dr Mariangela Simao, WHO assistant director-general for access to medicines and health products, said in the statement.

WHO said the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine met its safety requirements and its benefits outweighed any potential risks.

The vaccine, which must be kept at ultra-low temperatures, is already being administered in several countries, including the United States, Canada, Qatar, Bahrain and Mexico.