A Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech has been approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for use in the UK, paving the way for mass vaccination to start.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “The Government has today accepted the recommendation from the Independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to approve Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for use.
“This follows months of rigorous clinical trials and a thorough analysis of the data by experts at the MHRA who have concluded that the vaccine has met its strict standards of safety, quality, and effectiveness.
“The Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI) will shortly publish its final advice for the priority groups to receive the vaccine, including care home residents, health and care staff, the elderly, and the clinically extremely vulnerable.
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“The vaccine will be made available across the UK from next week. The NHS has decades of experience in delivering large scale vaccination programmes and will begin putting their extensive preparations into action to provide care and support to all those eligible for vaccination.
“To aid the success of the vaccination programme it is vital everyone continues to play their part and abide by the necessary restrictions in their area so we can further suppress the virus and allow the NHS to do its work without being overwhelmed.
“Further details will be set out shortly.”
How many doses will be available in the UK?
The UK has secured 40 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, with 10 million due in the UK by the end of the year.
Patients need two doses, meaning not enough shots have been secured for the entire UK population.
However, it is likely other vaccines, including one from Oxford University, will be approved in the coming weeks and months.
Who will get the vaccine first?
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has set the order of priority for the coronavirus vaccine rollout in the UK.
Care home residents and staff will be the first to receive the vaccine, followed by those over 80 and health and social workers.
The vaccine will then be given to those over 75, before being rolled out to Brits of descending age:
1. older adults’ resident in a care home and care home workers
2. all those 80 years of age and over and health and social care workers
3. all those 75 years of age and over
4. all those 70 years of age and over
5. all those 65 years of age and over
6. high-risk adults under 65 years of age
7. moderate-risk adults under 65 years of age
8. all those 60 years of age and over
9. all those 55 years of age and over
10. all those 50 years of age and over
11. rest of the population (priority to be determined)
How effective is the vaccine?
The analysis shows the vaccine can prevent 95% of people from getting Covid-19, including 94% in older age groups.
The vaccine has been tested on 43,500 people in six countries and no safety concerns were raised.
