UK approves Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine; delivery begins next week
The United Kingdom has granted approval for the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, making it the first Western nation to grant such authorisation.
The
authorisation came after Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech saw their vaccine
prove 95 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19 in its Phase 3 trial.
The
trial also found that it produced similar results in older adults and with no
serious safety concerns.
The
UK’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock made the announcement earlier today,
December 2, after regulators granted permission for emergency of the vaccine.
The
European nation has ordered 40 million doses of the vaccine of two-dose
treatment, enough for 20 million people. Priority for the vaccine will be given
to the elderly in care facilities, frontline workers and other people deemed
vulnerable.
Hancock
told the BBC that an initial 800,000 doses will be available as early as next
week, with the rest to rollout next year.
