The U.S. Food and Drug Administration took an unprecedented step when it allowed emergency use authorizations for covid-19 vaccines. The agency says it’s working quickly but not cutting corners. But how quick are they working? The FDA provided us with a comparison. GlaxoSmithKline’s shingles vaccine, approved in 2017, took about a year between application filing and being approved under a traditional Biologics License Application. That same process — so far — has taken days for the covid vaccines.