Britain’s approval of BioNTech-Pfizer’s vaccine against Covid-19 marks a “historic moment” in the battle against the pandemic, the US pharma group’s chief executive said Wednesday, after his company won the first such authorisation in the West.

“Today’s Emergency Use Authorisation in the UK marks a historic moment in the fight against Covid-19,” said Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.

The US company and Germany’s BioNTech added that they expected further regulatory decisions from other countries “in the coming days and weeks”.