UK Set To Roll Out Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Next Week: Here's All You Need To Know About It
The UK became the first country to approve the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE.??
The vaccine will be available in Britain from next week, according to a statement from the UK government. The emergency authorization clears the way for the deployment of a vaccine that¡¯s expected to play a significant role in the global effort to halt the coronavirus.??
Vaccine to immunise 20 million
The UK had signaled it would move swiftly in approving a vaccine as part of an operation to protect its population, and doctors across the country were put on standby for a possible rollout.
The UK has ordered enough doses of the two-shot Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to immunize 20 million people. The companies also have deals to supply hundreds of millions of shots to Europe, the US, Japan and elsewhere.
¡°The government has accepted the recommendation from the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to approve?Pfizer-BioNTech¡¯s COVID-19 vaccinefor use. 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 UK government said in a statement.??
"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," the statement added.
Pfizer's statement?
Officials from pharmaceutical company Pfizer?explained reporters in a virtual interaction that they have received queries from many countries and the pharma company is ready to share their trial data ¡°if requested¡±.?Britain's approval of the vaccine marks a "historic moment" in the battle against the pandemic, the US pharma group's chief executive said. "Emergency Use Authorisation in the UK marks a historic moment in the fight against Covid-19," said?Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.?
Pfizer officials did not disclose if there are ongoing efforts to roll out the vaccine in other regions including India. Pfizer¡¯s Regional Lead Medical and VP, Scientific Affairs, Prof Ralf Rene Reinert said ¡°I have received emails from other countries, if we get a request from any other regulator from any countries, Pfizer will provide the data¡±. Apart from UK, it has submitted trial data before European Medicine Agency and US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA).??
Pfizer and its German partner said in November that the shot, relying on novel technology called messenger RNA, was 95% effective in a final analysis of clinical-trial data.?
Pfizer and BioNTech earlier this week sought regulatory clearance for their vaccine in the European Union, putting the shot on track for potential approval there before the end of the year. In the U.S., a Food and Drug Administration panel is set to meet on Dec. 10 to discuss the vaccine.
