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Health Secretary Matt Hancock has faced a backlash after claiming that Brexit helped the UK become the first country in the world to have a clinically licensed coronavirus vaccine.
The Pfizer / BioNTech jab has been approved by Britain’s drug regulator – but the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has yet to do the same for the EU.
Hancock said that European countries are “moving a little slower” and emphasized that the vaccine had gone through all the proper checks, but Germany said it deliberately did not move too fast to increase confidence that it will work.
Pfizer vaccine to begin rollout next week
Within hours of the significant moment, political tensions escalated.
Hancock told Times Radio that “thanks to Brexit we have been able to make the decision to do so based on the UK regulator, a world class regulator, and not keep pace with the Europeans.”
“We do the same security checks and the same processes, but we have been able to accelerate the way they are done thanks to Brexit,” he added.
And Commerce Secretary Alok Sharma also said: “In the years to come, we will remember this moment as the day the UK led humanity’s charge against this disease.”
Dr. Raine said that the approval of the vaccine was done using provisions of European law.
But the message angered several German politicians, including the country’s ambassador to the UK, Andreas Michaelis, who tweeted in response: “Why is it so difficult to recognize this important step forward as a major international effort and success?
“I really don’t think this is a national story. Even though the German company BioNTech has made a crucial contribution, this is European and transatlantic.”
And Germany’s health minister Jens Spahn said the UK had used an emergency process to authorize the use of the vaccine, while politicians had decided not to do so to increase confidence in the safety of the jab.
Peter Liese, a German MEP and member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling CDU party, also said the EMA was avoiding approving the vaccine because a “careful review … will give people additional reassurance.”
He added: “The information in recent weeks was based mainly on press releases and much of the data has only been available to the authorities for a few hours.
“With such a large-scale vaccination campaign, you have to look closely and carefully verify the information provided by the companies.
“I have confidence in BioNTech, but they rightly say ‘trust is good, control is better’.
“Emergency approval is a tool normally intended for patients suffering from a serious and incurable disease for whom there is no other way to save life or limb. This is not the case for Corona.”
“A few weeks of close scrutiny by the EMA is better than a hasty emergency marketing authorization of a vaccine.”
Dr June Raine, executive director of the Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency, clarified on Wednesday that the approval of the vaccine was carried out using the provisions of European law, which still binds the UK until the end of the year.
From start to finish, the development of this vaccine has been simplified.
Analysis by Thomas Moore, Science Correspondent
Time and again, experts at the vaccine briefing said the public can have full confidence in its “safety, efficacy and quality.”
They know that some people hesitate to receive the jab, worried that it has developed so quickly.
But the scientists, all independent from the government, say they haven’t cut corners.
Pfizer accelerated development by overlapping different phases of clinical trials. The studies themselves were as rigorous as with any other drug, with large numbers of volunteers.
And regulatory authorities began what’s called an ongoing review, evaluating the data as soon as it became available, in June.
When Pfizer released the last batch of documents on November 30, much of the verification process had already been completed.
From start to finish, the development of this vaccine has been simplified.
No serious side effects have been observed in trials. But regulatory authorities will continue to monitor the safety of the vaccine as it is rolled out.
That is sensible and comforting.
