A big relief arrives as UK approves the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and its partner BioNTech SE. This makes UK the first country to get the approval of the COVID-19 vaccine, ahead of decisions in the US and European Union.
The vaccine will start rolling out from next week in Britain, says the UK government in a statement. It is the vaccine being expected that the vaccine would play a crucial role in the pandemic.
“The vaccine will be made available across the UK from next week. The NHS has decades of experience in delivering large scale vaccination programmes and will begin putting their extensive preparations into action to provide care and support to all those eligible for vaccination,” said the UK government in a statement.
In a final analysis of clinical-trial data, the vaccine recorded to be 95% effective. This was relying on the novel technology called messenger RNA. “The government has today (Wednesday, December 2nd, 2020) accepted the recommendation from the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to approve Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for use”, the statement added.
“This follows months of rigorous clinical trials and a thorough analysis of the data by experts at the MHRA who have concluded that the vaccine has met its strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness,” the statement further added.
To protect its population, UK had signalled to operate fast in approving a vaccine. The doctors in the country were put on standby for a possible rollout. It is a notable opportunity for the UK government to make up for nearly 60,000 COVID-19 deaths in Britain.
Britain’s approval of BioNTech-Pfizer’s vaccine against Covid-19 marks a “historic moment” in the battle against the pandemic, says the Chief Executive, US Pharma Group. “Today’s Emergency Use Authorisation in the UK marks a historic moment in the fight against Covid-19,” said Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.
UK has ordered the two-shot Pfizer vaccine that will be enough to immunize 20 million people. The Pfizer and BioNTech also have deals to supply hundreds of millions of shots to Europe, the U.S., Japan and to other countries as well.
Earlier this week, the companies sought clearance from the regulatory for their vaccine in the European Union. This was done by putting the shot on track for potential approval before the end of 2020. To discuss the vaccine, The Food and Drug Administration panel, in the US has been set to meet on December 10th.
