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Shortly after the vaccination euphoria in Britain, the Medicines Supervisory Authority (MHRA) issued the first warning: people with a significant allergic history should for the time being without the vaccine. The reason: two employees of the state health system (NHS) had suffered a severe allergic reaction after the Biontech Pfizer vaccination.
“They are both recovering well,” NHS chief Stephen Powis told a parliamentary committee in London on Wednesday. The warning is purely a precautionary measure, as is common with new vaccines, he said. Furthermore, the two patients had a corresponding history of allergies. However: the MHRA now wants to get to the bottom of the cases. The drug supervisory authority is supported by Biontech and Pfizer.
90 years was the first
Britain was the first country in the world to grant Mainz-based pharmaceutical company Biontech and its American partner Pfizer emergency approval for its corona vaccine, and the agent has been used across the board since Tuesday. Hundreds of people were vaccinated on the first day, British media reported. High-risk groups, nursing home employees and endangered medical personnel are among the first to receive the vaccine.
The first person to be vaccinated was Margaret Keenan, 90, from Northern Ireland. The older woman feels very privileged and happy to finally be able to find her family again. Because, as she told the British media, she was alone most of the year.
“A big step forward”: UK starts corona vaccines(00:58)
More vaccines in the offing
Biontech / Pfizer funds alone shouldn’t stop in Britain. “We expect a portfolio of three or four vaccines that we can use by the middle of the year (2021),” government medical adviser Chris Whitty told the committee.
The Swedish-British pharmaceutical company Astrazeneca, for example, has developed vaccines together with the University of Oxford and the American company Moderna. (SDA / bra)