Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and partner BioNTech will seek emergency government approval for their coronavirus vaccine on Friday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said, paving the way for millions of doses to be distributed within 24 hours.

“We will ship millions of doses of vaccine within 24 hours of FDA approval. So my message is hope and help are on the way,” Azar said Thursday as he announced the pending emergency use application during a White House coronavirus task force briefing.

Pfizer’s German partner BioNTech had said this week that it would seek the emergency approval for the vaccine, which showed 94.5 percent efficacy in clinical trials.