[ad_1]
The promise of COVID-19 vaccines is “phenomenal” and “potentially revolutionary,” says Hans Kluge, director of the World Health Organization for Europe. The vinyl release a day after the UK became the first Western country to approve the use of a vaccine against this disease, Reuters reports, cited by Agerpres.
The United Kingdom approved this Wednesday the vaccine developed against COVID-19 by the American company Pfizer Inc together with BioNTech of Germany, becoming the first country in the world to take this step in the race to start the most important mass vaccination program in history .
Kluge said that initially, the quantities of vaccine will be very limited, and states must decide who will have priority, recalling the WHO in this regard a “growing consensus” that the first recipients will be the elderly, health personnel. and people suffering from other conditions, as the UK claims.
The new coronavirus still has the potential to cause “enormous damage,” Kluge said, but “the future looks brighter,” as other candidate vaccines, including Moderna and AstraZeneca, also tested positive.
“The more candidates we have, the more likely we are to succeed,” Kluge told a news conference.
“Vaccines, along with other public health measures, bring the end of an acute phase of the pandemic and the reconstruction of economies,” he added.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA), which authorizes COVID-19 vaccines for the European Union, said on Wednesday, in response to the rapid approval of the vaccine by Pfizer and BioNTech in Britain, that its own procedure, which lasts longer. much, it is more appropriate and based on more evidence. Approval from the EU and separately from the US could follow in days or weeks, Reuters notes.
A WHO official, when asked about the various regulatory processes, said that the World Health Agency and the EMA had asked the UK to share the documents it used in the rapid approval procedure to help speed up the process. evaluations from other institutions.
This exchange of information could increase trust among the people who will be the target of vaccines, said Siddhartha Datta, director of the WHO’s vaccine-preventable diseases program.
“This decision is important to any of the national regulators because it will instill confidence in the system,” Datta said.
“It is extremely important that this process is robust, evidence-based and that a decision is made and shared in a transparent manner,” added the WHO representative.
The WHO has already received data from Pfizer and BioNTech on the vaccine, which they are analyzing, which could be a benchmark for its use in other states.
The United Kingdom became the first country in the world on Wednesday to approve the use of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the US company Pfizer, in collaboration with its German partner BioNTech, which can be administered from next week. The UK Vaccine Committee will determine the categories that will receive this vaccine as a priority, such as asylum seekers, healthcare professionals, the elderly and people with clinical conditions and high vulnerability.
Editing: Monica Bonea
