LONDON: A few weeks after being rocked by the second wave of the novel coronavirus, Britain, on December 2, gave emergency approval to the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. This makes the United Kingdom the first country in the world to do so. According to British officials, a mass immunization program would begin next week with distribution of the first 800,000 doses in a remarkable rollout of an entirely new vaccine. The most challenging task would be to ensure storage ad transport of vaccine at minus 20 degrees.
The British government declared that residents of nursing homes and their caregivers will be the first people to receive the vaccine as they are most vulnerable to COVID-19. They will be followed by all people over 80 and front-line medical workers. The vaccine will be then provided to all people over 75, over 70 and individuals who are “clinically extremely vulnerable”.
According to June Raine, Executive Head, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, they have absolute confidence in the “safety, effectiveness and quality” of the vaccine. Britain’s decision is likely to intensify the pressure on Food the United States Food and Drug Administration, which has faced surging pressure from the Trump administration to approve Pfizer’s vaccine.