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- James Gallagher
- BBC Science and Health Correspondent
Image source, fake images
The UK became the first country to approve the Oxford University vaccine, as it did with Pfizer’s in early December.
The United Kingdom became the first country in the world to approve the coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca on Wednesday.
Just four weeks ago, this country had also become the first to approve the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine, which is already being massively administered in various parts of the world such as the United States, Mexico, Chile and the European Union.
The UK drug regulatory agency thus certifies that the vaccine is safe and effective.
Compound approval assumes another boost to mass vaccination organized by the United Kingdom since the beginning of this month.
As with the Pfizer vaccine, this first go-ahead is expected to pave the way for approval of the Oxford vaccine in other countries and regulators around the world.
Its potential mass distribution is also expected to be a coup in the fight against coronavirus, given that it is easier to store and produce on a large scale than other of its competitors.
The UK has already ordered 100 million doses, enough to vaccinate 50 million people.
Image source, fake images
The approval of the Oxford vaccine comes at a critical time in the level of virus infections in the UK.
Advantages of the vaccine
This vaccine was designed in the first months of 2020, tested in the first volunteers in April, and since then it has been subjected to clinical trials with thousands of people.
It was developed at a frenetic pace that was unthinkable before the pandemic.
More than 600,000 people have already been vaccinated in the UK, but the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to give a significant boost, given that it is cheaper and easier to produce.
It is crucial that it can be stored in a normal refrigerator, not like Pfizer’s vaccine, which needs ultra-cold temperatures of -70 ° C.
This means that it will be easier to get this vaccine to local health centers and nursing homes.
The approval of the vaccine comes at a time of “unprecedented” levels of infections and hospital pressure in the United Kingdom, according to Public Health of England.
The single dose strategy
Until now, many of the vaccines developed and approved require two doses to ensure a more complete and long-lasting immunity.
However, in the UK at least, the strategy will shift towards trying to give the first dose to as many people as possible. The objective is to offer some protection to a large vulnerable population.
The decision is based on the recommendations of the United Kingdom’s Unified Committee for Vaccination and Immunization.
“The priority should be to give the first dose to many high-risk people, rather than rushing to offer both doses in a very short period of time,” said a spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care.
“Everyone will continue to receive the second dose and it will occur within the first 12 weeks. The second dose completes its mission and is important for long-term protection.”
How does the vaccine work?
The vaccine is a genetically modified common flu virus that used to infect chimpanzees.
It has been modified to prevent it from causing an infection in people and to carry the blueprints for part of the coronavirus, known as spike protein.
Image source, fake images
This vaccine is expected to further boost mass vaccination campaigns.
Once these blueprints are inside the body, they begin to produce the coronavirus spike protein, which the immune system recognizes as a threat and attempts to squash it.
So, when the immune system comes into contact with the real virus, this you know what to do.
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