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The UK became the first country in the world to approve the large-scale use of Pfizer / BioNTech’s new corona vaccine.
The British regulatory agency MHRA (Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency) stated that the vaccine can provide up to 95% protection and can be safely marketed next week.
High-risk groups can begin vaccination in a few days, such as the elderly in nursing homes. The UK has ordered 40 million doses of the vaccine, which can provide two doses per person to 20 million people. About 10 million doses of vaccine should be available soon, with the first 800,000 doses arriving in the UK in the next few days.
Approximately 50 hospitals in the UK are ready for injections and some vaccination sites, such as conference centers, are also ready.
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC: “Now I am sure that everything will be fine from spring, from Easter. Next summer everyone will start celebrating.”
This is the fastest vaccine ever developed. It only took 10 months from concept to approval to market, completing development steps that typically take ten years to complete.
Experts say that although vaccination can be started, people should still be vigilant and follow the principles of social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus. This means continuing to maintain social distancing, wearing masks, testing people who may be infected with the virus, and asking them to isolate themselves.
Pfizer Vaccine Principle
The Pfizer vaccine is a ribonucleic acid vaccine, a new vaccine that has never been injected into humans before.
Scientists extract part of the ribonucleic acid-encoded protein within the virus, add lipids, and introduce it into human cells; the vaccine is imported into human cells to express the gene for the new coronavirus spike protein; the human immune system produces antibodies and activates T cells to destroy infected cells.
The vaccine should be stored in an environment below 70 ° C, packed in dry ice and transported in a special box. Once the vaccine is administered, it can be stored in the freezer for 5 days.
Who gets vaccinated first?
Experts have developed a temporary priority vaccination list with the aim of protecting high-risk groups. These are older people living in nursing homes and related nursing staff, followed by people older than 80 and other health and social care workers.
They will receive the first batch of vaccines, some of which will arrive before Christmas. With the arrival of 2021, more vaccines will be available and people over 50 and young people with existing underlying diseases will be able to receive mass immunization.
Everyone needs two injections, 21 days apart, and the second dose is a booster.
Initial data shows that the new corona vaccine developed by Pfizer and the German pharmaceutical company BioNTech has an effective rate of 90%.
How are other vaccines progressing?
There are other vaccines that may soon be approved for use.
A Moderna vaccine uses the same mRNA method as the Pfizer vaccine and also provides similar protection rates. The UK has reserved 7 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, which could be ready in the spring.
The UK has ordered 100 million doses of the new corona vaccine from the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca. The vaccine uses a harmless virus, which is changed to a virus similar to the new coronavirus.
Russia has been developing another vaccine called “Sputnik-V” (Sputnik-V), and the Chinese military has also approved the use of a vaccine produced by Cansino Biotech of China. Both work in a similar way to Oxford vaccines.
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