WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Robert Redfield said on Sunday he has signed the recommendation of a key CDC advisory group to use the COVID-19 vaccine of American drugmaker Pfizer in partnership with German company BioNTech.

Initial COVID-19 vaccination is set to start as early as Monday, Redfield said in a statement.

"Last night, I was proud to sign the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' recommendation to use Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine in people 16 and older," he said.

This official CDC recommendation follows Friday's decision of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to authorize the emergency use of the vaccine.

As COVID-19 cases continue to surge throughout the country, CDC's recommendation comes at a critical time, said Redfiled.

Initial COVID-19 vaccination is set to start as early as Monday, he said, adding it is the next step in the efforts to protect Americans, reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and help restore some normalcy to the lives of the American people and the country.

A total of 213,305 new cases and 2,283 deaths were reported across the country on Saturday, according to data updated Sunday by the CDC.

The United States has recorded more than 16.19 million cases with over 298,700 related deaths as of Sunday afternoon, according to the real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.