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The UK became the first Western country to approve a Covid-19 vaccine, with its regulator overtaking Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE ahead of decisions in the US and the European Union.
The emergency authorization paves the way for the deployment of a vaccine that Pfizer and its German partner have said is 95% effective in preventing disease. The injection will be available in Great Britain. of the following weekaccording to a government statement on Wednesday.
“We can see the way out and we can see that by the spring we are going to get over this,” Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Sky News.
The UK had signaled that it would act swiftly to approve a vaccine, and doctors across the country were put on hold for a possible implementation.
For the government, it is an opportunity to make up for missteps during the pandemic, as Britain’s death toll is approaching 60,000.
The UK regulator, Medicines and Health care The Product Regulatory Agency said Wednesday that the vaccine “met its strict standards for safety, quality and effectiveness.”
Pfizer, along with Moderna Inc. and Oxford University partner AstraZeneca Plc, have gone ahead in a bid to deliver coronavirus vaccines in record time.
EU application
Pfizer and BioNTech earlier this week sought regulatory clearance for their vaccine in the European Union, putting the vaccine on track for possible approval there before the end of the year.
In the United States, a panel from the Food and Drug Administration will meet on December 10 to discuss the vaccine.
China has authorized its three pioneers for emergency use. Russia approved a vaccine known as Sputnik V in August, while a second inoculation was approved in October, even as the last stage of trials is still underway to establish safety and efficacy.
In late November, the British government invoked a special rule that allows its drug regulator to get ahead of the EU as the country prepares for the Brexit transition period that will conclude later this year.
The UK has ordered enough doses of the two-shot Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to immunize 20 million people. The companies also have agreements to supply hundreds of millions of injections to Europe, the United States, Japan, and elsewhere.
The Pfizer-BioNTech photo was thrown at the head of the queue after delays in trials of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, which has also shown promising signs in preliminary results of large studies.
UK partners have faced questions after acknowledging that a lower dosage level that seemed more effective resulted from a manufacturing discrepancy.
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