UK approves the rollout of Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine next week

The Unite Kingdom will be the first western country to approve the use of Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA), says the vaccine, which offers up to 95% protection against Covid-19 illness, is safe to be rolled out.

According to Health Secretary Matt Hancock, the first 800,000 doses will be available in the UK from next week.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “The government has today accepted the recommendation from the MHRA to approve Pfizer/BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine for 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 Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation will shortly also publish its latest advice for the priority groups to receive the vaccine, including care home residents, health and care staff, the elderly and the clinically extremely vulnerable. The vaccine will be made available across the UK from next week.”

The Pfizer/BioNTech jab would be the fastest vaccine to go from concept to reality, taking only 10 months to follow the same steps that normally span 10 years.

Some days ago, Pfizer and BioNTech announced that its COVID-19 vaccine, BNT162b2, has been found to be more that 90% effective in preventing COVID-19.

The United Kingdom has already ordered 40 million doses of the free vaccine, which is enough to vaccinate 20 million people.

Mr Hancock said that elderly people in care homes and care home staff are top of the priority list, followed by over-80s and health and care staff. People should wait to be contacted by the NHS

There will be three ways of vaccinating people across the UK:

• Hospitals
• Vaccination centres “a bit like the Nightingales project and including some of the Nightingales”
• In the community, with GPs and pharmacists.