[ad_1]
A small bottle has hope for the future of humanity after trials of a Covid vaccine showed it to be 90% effective.
And nursing home residents and staff could receive the two-dose injection in a few weeks, and it will be rolled out to others next year, if approved by regulators.
Britain will have 10 million doses, for five million people, available this year.
Pfizer President Dr. Albert Bourla, who developed the BioNTech vaccine, said: “Today is a great day for science and humanity.”
Experts spoke tonight of their joy at the development of an effective vaccine that could see Britain take its first tentative steps out of the pandemic in a few weeks.
Nursing home staff and elderly residents can start getting vaccinated before Christmas, if UK regulators approve the two-dose injection. The program is expected to be implemented in the rest of the population next year.
What is your opinion? Give your opinion in the comment section.
It raised hopes for a return to normalcy by spring, after months of misery in a seemingly endless battle against Covid, which has so far resulted in 61,498 deaths.
Analysis of the trials has shown that the vaccine, produced by the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and the German technology firm BioNTech, is 90% effective. The Government has ensured access to 40 million doses.
And 10 million, enough for five million Britons, will be available for the UK by the end of the year.
Oxford University Professor Sir John Bell, who is part of the UK Vaccine Task Force, said: “I am really delighted with this result.”
(Image: Getty)
When asked if the jab could mean a return to normalcy early next year, he replied, “Yes, yes, yes, yes. I’m probably the first to say that, but I’ll say it with confidence. “
Pfizer President Dr. Albert Bourla added: “Today is a great day for science and humanity.
“We are a significant step closer to giving people a breakthrough to help end this global health crisis.”
But Boris Johnson called for caution and warned people not to let their guard down in the Covid fight.
(Image: BioNTech SE 2020 / PA Wire)
The Prime Minister said: “If the Pfizer vaccine passes all rigorous safety checks and is shown to be effective, we will begin a distribution program led by the NHS across the UK.
“We cannot rely on this at all as a solution.
“The biggest mistake we could make now would be to loosen our resolve.”
But he admitted that the vaccine meant that “scientific cavalry” was finally on its way.
(Image: BioNTech SE 2020 / PA Wire)
SAGE advisor Dr. Jeremy Farrar said that manufacturing the jabs would be “the largest and fastest” in history and that their implementation across the country would be a “phenomenal challenge.”
Global markets skyrocketed yesterday as the news triggered a manufacturing blitz.
Pfizer’s value skyrocketed £ 21bn at one point.
Vaccines typically take at least five years to develop.
The fastest was mumps at four.
The Pfizer-BioNTech jab is one of around a dozen in the final stages of testing, but the first to show results.
No security issues were identified.
Regulators are awaiting test safety data on the 22,000 people injected. The University of Oxford is also developing a vaccine.
[ad_2]
