[ad_1]
- The UK on Wednesday approved the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, making it the first Western country to authorize a coronavirus vaccine.
- About 800,000 doses will arrive in the country in a week, which means that 400,000 people could be vaccinated in the first wave, Matt Hancock, UK health secretary told the BBC. The vaccine requires two doses, 21 days apart.
- Hancock said that “many millions” of doses of Pfizer’s vaccine could be available by the end of the year, but declined to indicate an exact amount.
- People in nursing homes and their caregivers are the highest priority for the vaccine, the government said, followed by anyone over the age of 80 and front-line healthcare workers.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
The Covid-19 vaccine developed by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech was approved by the UK regulator on Wednesday, the first Western country to give a green light to a coronavirus vaccine.
In a statement, the government said the vaccine would be available within a week and residents of the nursing home and their caregivers would be first in line.
In all, the UK has ordered around 40 million doses of the two-shot vaccine, enough to immunize 20 million of the roughly 67 million people in the country. The two doses are given 21 days apart, and immunity kicks in seven days after the second dose.
How many people will be vaccinated first?
800,000 doses will arrive in the country next week from Belgium, where Pfizer is producing the UK supply of vaccines, Matt Hancock, UK health secretary, told the BBC on Wednesday. This means that 400,000 people will be vaccinated in the first wave of vaccines, he said.
“This will start small and build up,” Hancock said. “The vast majority of vaccines hope to be in the new year.”
Hancock said “many millions” of doses of Pfizer vaccines could be available by the end of the year, but declined to give a precise figure.
“It depends on the speed of manufacturing and how quickly we can do the batch testing to the rigorous and high standards. Then once it’s in the UK we obviously have to distribute it across the NHS in all four nations.” said.
The vaccination process will take time, since the vaccine requires two injections 21 days apart, Hancock added.
Who will get vaccinated first?
The UK government will give priority to who gets immunized with Pfizer’s vaccine as it is rolled out across the country.
The two-shot vaccine will first be available to nursing home residents and their caregivers, people over 80 and front-line healthcare workers, Hancock said.
“Then essentially it comes down the age range, including the clinically extremely vulnerable as well,” he added.
The Joint Committee on Immunizations and Vaccines, the clinical body that advises UK health departments, set out the details of this prioritization on Wednesday.
The entire priority list begins with the elderly in nursing homes and nursing home workers. Next are people over 80 years old and health and welfare workers, followed by people over 75 years old and then over 70 years old.
The full priority list is here, starting with the highest priority:
- Residents in a nursing home and their carers.
- All those aged 80 years and over. Front-line health and social care workers.
- All those 75 and over.
- All those 70 and over. Clinically vulnerable individuals.
- All those 65 years or older.
- All people ages 16 to 64 with underlying health conditions that put them at increased risk for serious illness and mortality.
- All those 60 and over.
- All those 55 and over.
- All those 50 and over.
The government said prioritization depends in part on the supply of vaccines.
“I’m confident now with today’s news that starting in the spring, from Easter onwards, things are going to get better. We’re going to have a summer next year that everyone can enjoy,” Hancock said.
Pfizer and BioNTech announced on November 18 that their vaccine candidate was 95% effective in protecting people against Covid-19 in their late-stage trial.
The pharmaceutical giants plan to deliver 50 million doses worldwide by the end of 2020, and production will increase to produce more than 1 billion in 2021.
Additional report from Dr. Catherine Schuster-Bruce.
[ad_2]
