In COVID-19 milestone for the West, Britain begins mass vaccination

LONDON – A 90-year-old grandmother became the world’s first person to receive a fully tested COVID-19 injection on Tuesday, as Britain began mass vaccinating its people in a global push that poses one of the biggest logistical challenges in the history of peacetime.

Health workers began to inoculate the most vulnerable with the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, and the country is a test case for the world, as it faces the distribution of a compound that must be stored at -70 ° C (-94 ° F).

Margaret Keenan, 90, is applauded by staff as she returns to her ward after becoming the first person in Britain to receive the Pfizer / BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at University Hospital, at the start of the largest immunization program in British history, in Coventry, Great Britain December 8, 2020. Great Britain is the first country in the world to start vaccinating people with the Pfizer / BioNTech jab. Jacob King / Pool via REUTERS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Margaret Keenan, who turns 91 in a week, was the first to receive the vaccine at a hospital in Coventry, central England.

“It’s the best anticipated birthday gift I could wish for because it means that I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the new year after being alone for most of the year,” she said.

The launch of the vaccine, one of three injections that have reported successful results from large trials, will fuel hope that the world is taking a turn in the fight against a pandemic that has killed more than 1.5 million people.

Britain, the worst hit in Europe with more than 61,000 deaths, is the first Western nation to start mass vaccination and the first globally to implement the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine.

But despite the relief for people receiving the first dose of the two-dose regimen, they will have to wait three weeks for the second, and there is no evidence that immunization reduces transmission of the virus.

“It will gradually make a big, big difference. But I gradually emphasize why we haven’t arrived yet. We have not yet defeated this virus, “said Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he expected millions to get vaccinated by the end of the year and described the start of the campaign as “V-Day.” But he cautioned that people should abide by social distancing rules until spring, at least, when he expected the most vulnerable people to be vaccinated.

The country has ordered enough supplies of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine to vaccinate 20 million people. The developers said it was 95% effective in preventing disease in end-stage trials.

Russia and China have already started offering domestically produced candidate vaccines to their populations, albeit before final safety and efficacy trials have been completed.

Five days in the fridge

In Britain, around 800,000 doses are expected to be available during the first week, with priority for nursing home residents and carers, those over 80 and some healthcare workers. Hancock said he had a “high degree of confidence” that Britain would receive another batch of the vaccine next week.

A vial of Pfizer / BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is seen before it is administered at the Royal Victoria Hospital, on the first day of the largest immunization program in British history, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on December 8, 2020. Liam McBurney / Pool via REUTERS

The country is relatively small with good infrastructure. However, logistical challenges in distributing the vaccine, which only lasts for five days in a normal refrigerator, mean that it will first go to dozens of hospitals and still cannot be taken to nursing homes.

Larger trials could await the injection of Pfizer / BioNTech, as well as a vaccine from Moderna, which was found to have a similar level of testing success and is based on the same genetic mRNA technology that requires such ultra-cold storage.

Transportation and distribution could prove more challenging in hot countries and larger nations like the United States and India, which have been hit hardest by COVID-19 and are expected to approve the injection for emergency use in the next few days or weeks.

South Korea, which has coped with the pandemic relatively well, took a note of caution and said it would not rush the launch of vaccines, in part to give it time to look at possible side effects in other countries. Vaccinations can begin in the first half of 2021, the Health Ministry added.

The third vaccine to have been successful in trials, developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, is considered to offer one of the best hopes for many developing countries because it is cheaper and can be transported at normal refrigerator temperatures. The late-stage trials found that it had an average success rate of 70%.

UK Senior Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance said vaccines that were easier to store and deploy would play a key role. Britain expects regulatory approval of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine in the next two weeks.

Brexit ‘adds complexity’

Britain approved the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine for emergency use less than a week ago and is rolling it out earlier than the United States and the European Union, from where it will finally part ways at the end of the year.

Ranju Shukla, accompanied by her husband, Dr. Hari Shukla, receives the first of two injections of the Pfizer / BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, administered by retired nurse Suzanne Medows, at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, on the first day of the program. Britain’s largest immunization. story, in Newcastle, Great Britain, on December 8, 2020. Owen Humphreys / Pool via REUTERS

The Brexit transition period ends on December 31, and there is a possibility of chaos in ports, with military jets waiting to intervene.

The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine is being imported from Belgium, while initial supplies of the AstraZeneca / Oxford injection are shipped from Germany.

“Of course, it adds complexity,” Steve Bates, executive director of the Bioindustry Association, told reporters about the possible impact of Brexit. “But there is a solid plan for alternative routes and mitigation.”

In all, Britain has ordered 40 million doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech injection. Since each person requires two doses, that’s enough to vaccinate 20 million people in the country of 67 million.

The country ordered 357 million doses of seven different COVID-19 vaccines in total.

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