The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given the green light for the use of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate. A panel of experts said on Friday that they formally recommend the use of the vaccine for the American people.

With the approval, the vaccine is expected to be rolled out as early as next week. The first to get vaccinated will be health care workers, nursing home residents, and frontline workers.

The FDA’s vaccine advisory panel voted 17 to 4 in favor of giving Pfizer emergency authorization to use the treatment. The panel only approved the drug to be used on people aged 16 and above.

The certification is expected to be formally given to Pfizer on Saturday. Federal officials said that an initial shipment of 6.4 million doses of the vaccine will leave the company’s warehouse just 24 hours after it receives the FDA’s certification, barring any last-minute legal or bureaucratic requirements.

By Monday next week, the vaccines should be in the hands of distributors such as large hospitals, major pharmacy chains, federal agencies, and local health authorities.

“With the high efficacy and good safety profile shown for our vaccine, and the pandemic essentially out of control, vaccine introduction is an urgent need,” Pfizer’s senior vice president and the head of vaccine research and development, Kathrin Jansen, said in a statement.