Coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech has been approved by regulators for use in the UK and will roll out NEXT WEEK
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 in just days.
Officials said the vaccine will be made available ‘from next week’ as Health Secretary Matt Hancock declared ‘Help is on its way’.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman made the announcement just after 7am this morning as England left its second national lockdown.
The Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer /BioNTech has been approved by the Regulatory Agency
The official 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 Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) will shortly also publish its latest advice for the priority groups to receive the vaccine, including care home residents, health and care staff, the elderly and the clinically extremely vulnerable.
‘The vaccine will be made available across the UK from next week.’
A graph showing vaccine orders made by the EU, US, Canada, UK, Japan and Australia
Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeted: ‘Help is on its way. The MHRA has formally authorised the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for Covid-19.
‘The NHS stands ready to start vaccinating early next week.
‘The UK is the first country in the world to have a clinically approved vaccine for supply.’
Just days ago hospitals in England were told to prepare for the rollout of a Covid-19 vaccine in as soon as 10 days, it has been reported, with NHS staff first in line to receive it.
The chief medical officer refused to back it at a Downing Street press conference yesterday (pictured) amid controversy surrounding data from its late-stage trials
The first deliveries of the vaccine created by Pfizer/BioNTech were slated to come between December 7 and December 9.
This vaccine, which reported early results suggesting the jab is 95 per cent effective, needs to be stored at extremely low temperatures.
One senior hospital executive had been told to expect the vaccine on December 7 to give to NHS staff during the following week.
On November 20, the Health Secretary said he had formally asked the medicines regulator to assess the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for use in the UK.
Matt Hancock hailed it as ‘another important step forward in tackling this pandemic’.
But he said while the regulator’s approval would see a rollout ready to start next month, there is ‘still a long way to go’.
And the MHRA confirmed last Monday it had received the necessary data to progress its review into whether the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine meets the required standards.
From the moment the Pfizer vaccine leaves the factory in Belgium it can only be taken out of minus 70C four times before it is injected into a patient’s arm.