Coronavirus: UK Approves Pfizer Vaccine, Vaccination Next Week

In a significant development, the United Kingdom has approved Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19. Pfizer and its German partner developed the vaccine based on the novel messenger RNA (mRNA) technology.

The UK regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, has cleared Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE’s vaccine shot. It said the vaccine “met its strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.” With this, the UK becomes the first western country to approve a Coronavirus vaccine ahead of the United States and European Union.

According to the Britain’s government statement, the Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine will be available in Britain from next week. The UK vaccine panel to decide which priority groups will get vaccine first. Covid pandemic has killed nearly 1.5 million people across the globe.

Pfizer CEO has described it as the “historic moment” in the fight against Covid. It can be noted that the Pfizer’s preliminary findings reported more than 90 percent effectiveness of the vaccine during the trials.

Earlier, Russia had cleared Sputnik V vaccine against the Covid in August and the second inoculation of the vaccine was approved in October.