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The Pfizer vaccine is approved for use in the UK. According to the Health Minister, the vaccination will begin next week, he says in an interview with Sky News.
Health Minister Matt Hancock says this is fantastic news and that the NHS public health service is ready and will start vaccination next week.
The vaccine was developed by German BioNTech, with funding from the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.
– Help is on the way and we can see the way out. Now we see that by spring, we will be done with this. Let’s keep our will until then, Hancock said in an interview with British Sky News on Wednesday morning.
This vaccine is also at the forefront of approval in the EU and Norway. A decision can be made before December 29. Preliminary test results show, according to Pfizer, that the vaccine is 95 percent effective and has no serious side effects.
According to The Guardian, the UK has ordered 40 million doses. As the vaccine requires two doses for vaccination, this will be enough to vaccinate 20 million people. 10 million doses are expected by the end of the year, 800,000 of them in the next few days.
Follow the development of coronavirus vaccines on General description of the VG vaccine.
Will only
For the rest of the European countries, the vaccine will be presented at a meeting of the EU Scientific Committee on December 29. For the UK, an approval is already in progress.
Click on the graphic below to read more about the Pfizer vaccine:
– The United Kingdom will in any case abandon collaboration on drugs in January. Obviously, they have chosen to go solo a little earlier. Otherwise, all the countries in Europe have already decided that we should have a common vaccine start, explains Steinar Madsen, who is physician and medical director of the Norwegian Medicines Agency.
– In Norway, we have a clear attitude that we want to participate in a joint European approval. The approval system in Europe is good and we want approval to be based on a solid scientific basis and extensive research, Madsen continues.
Therefore, it is not relevant to have a corresponding urgent approval here in Norway. Madsen, however, describes the British approval as good news.
– We must take into account the fact that the English authorities have carried out as thorough an assessment as possible, but at the same time it is a pity that they choose to break with European cooperation.
Prioritize risk groups
In the UK, 50 hospitals are ready and waiting to receive the vaccine, says the Health Minister. Older people, people in nursing homes and those who work there will be the first to get the vaccine in the UK, says Health Minister Matt Hancock.
Pharmaceutical companies BioNTech and Pfizer confirm the news in a press release and describe the approval as a “historic moment.”
– We believe that the vaccination program in the UK will reduce the number of hospital admissions, says BioNTech director Ugur Sahin in a statement.
Difficult to store
The vaccine requires two doses per person to be effective and must be stored at minus 70 degrees. Because of this, it can be difficult to store and transport. According to BioNTech, it can survive temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees for up to five days.
On Wednesday, Pfizer shared photos of the vaccine, showing how it should be packed in thermo boxes before shipping.
The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine is the so-called mRNA vaccine, which uses a small part of the virus’s genetics to teach the body how to fight the virus.
Three other vaccines are also relevant to Norway through “ongoing review” in EU systems. The Moderna and Oxford vaccine candidates, as well as the Johnson & Johnson candidate, were admitted for evaluation on Tuesday.
While candidate vaccines like the Oxford vaccine and AztraZeneca may be easier to store because they can survive refrigerator temperatures, the Johnson & Johnson candidate, for example, has another advantage: it only requires one dose to be effective.
The case is being updated.
