[ad_1]
(Reuters) – Britain will approve the COVID-19 vaccine developed by BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc next week and deliveries would begin within hours of authorization, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.
The first immunizations with the BioNTech and Pfizer vaccine could take place as early as Dec. 7, the FT said, citing unidentified sources. on.ft.com/3o6JrSG
Hours earlier, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson appointed Nadhim Zahawi, currently a junior business minister, as the minister responsible for the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines.
Britain said on Nov.20 that it had formally asked its medical regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), to assess the suitability of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the first step in making it available outside. from the United States. .
Britain has ordered 40 million doses of the vaccine, which has been found to be 95% effective in preventing the spread of a virus that has killed more than 1.4 million people worldwide and paralyzed the World economy.
The government asked the regulator on Friday to evaluate AstraZeneca Plc’s COVID-19 vaccine for possible implementation.
It has secured 100 million doses of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford and has set a goal to start before Christmas.
Report of Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Alex Richardson and David Evans
