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A30 world news
Diahuebs 3 December 2020

Britain approves vaccine and will begin shots within days

dation has only been given by the
MHRA following the most rigorous
scientific assessment of every piece of
data.”

Getting that message to the public
will be critical if any vaccination pro-
gram is to be successful. Some people
are worried about getting any vaccine,
never mind a new one.

“But I think once they understand
and see everyone else having it with-
out hesitation, I think you’ll find that
people will go and have it,” Jacque-
line Roubians, a 76-year-old retired
nurse, said at Brixton Market in Lon-
don. “People are dying of COVID, so
you make that decision: Do you want
to die or do you want the vaccine?”

In addition to the huge logistical chal-
lenges of distributing the vaccines,
the Pfizer-BioNTech one must be
stored and shipped at ultra-cold tem-
peratures of around minus 70 degrees
Celsius (minus 94 degrees Fahren-
heit).

Pfizer said that it has developed ship-
ping containers that use dry ice and
that GPS-enabled sensors will allow
(AP) — Britain became the first als showed it was 95% effective and said, though the exact number will the company to track each shipment
country in the world to authorize offered significant protection for old- depend on how fast it can be manu- and ensure it stays cold.
a rigorously tested COVID-19 er people. The vaccine remains ex- factured and checked for quality.
vaccine Wednesday and could be perimental while final testing is done. Every country has different rules for
dispensing shots within days — a BioNTech, which owns the vaccine, determining when an experimental
historic step toward eventually “This is an unprecedented piece of said it has so far signed deals to supply vaccine is safe and effective enough
ending the scourge that has killed science,” given that the vaccine was 570 million doses worldwide in 2021, to use. China and Russia have offered
more than 1.4 million people authorized less than a year after the with options to deliver 600 million different vaccines to their citizens
around the globe. virus was discovered, said David more. It hopes to supply at least 1.3 before they had gone through large-
Harper, senior consulting fellow in billion in 2021. scale, late-stage testing.
In giving the go-ahead for emer- global health at the Chatham House
gency use of the vaccine developed think tank. That is only a fraction of what will be Hours after Britain's announcement,
by American drugmaker Pfizer and needed as public health officials try to Russian President Vladimir Putin,
Germany’s BioNTech, Britain vault- Prime Minister Boris Johnson de- vaccinate much of the world’s popu- not to be outdone, ordered the start
ed past the United States by at least a clared that the “searchlights of sci- lation. Experts have said several vac- of a large-scale COVID-19 vaccina-
week. The U.S. Food and Drug Ad- ence” had picked out the “invisible cines will be required to quickly end tion campaign by late next week, with
ministration is not scheduled to con- enemy.” He said that in developing the pandemic. doctors and teachers to be first in line
sider the vaccine until Dec. 10. the vaccine, scientists had performed to receive the Sputnik V shot, whose
“biological ju jitsu” by turning the vi- In Britain, the first shots will go to name was inspired by the 1957 satel-
“This is a day to remember, frankly, rus on itself. nursing home patients and those who lite that was one of Moscow's proud-
in a year to forget," British Health care for them, followed by every- est technical achievements.
Secretary Matt Hancock said. Other countries aren’t far behind: one over 80 and health care workers.
Regulators not only in the U.S. but in From there, the program will be ex- The Russian vaccine won regulato-
The announcement sets the stage for the European Union and Canada also panded as the supply increases, with ry approval in August but has yet to
the biggest vaccination campaign in are vetting the Pfizer vaccine along the vaccine offered roughly on the complete advanced studies of its ef-
British history and came just ahead with a shot made by Moderna Inc. basis of age groups, starting with the fectiveness and safety. Health Minis-
of what experts are warning will be a British and Canadian regulators are oldest people. ter Mikhail Murashko said more than
long, dark winter, with the coronavi- also considering a vaccine made by 100,000 people in Russia have been
rus surging to epic levels in the U.S. AstraZeneca and Oxford University. Despite the speed with which they given the shots.
and Europe and putting pressure on approved the vaccine, and the in-
hospitals and businesses. Amid growing concern in the U.S. tense political pressure surrounding The vaccine made by Pfizer and Bi-
that Americans will greet vaccines the worldwide race to solve the crisis, oNTech was tested in tens of thou-
Officials cautioned that several tough with skepticism, U.S. Health and British regulators insisted “no cor- sands of people, and the makers re-
months still lie ahead even in Britain, Human Services Secretary Alex Azar ners have been cut” during the review ported no serious side effects. Still to
given the monumental scale of the said Britain’s decision “should give process. be determined is whether the shots
operation needed to vaccinate large Americans additional confidence in protect against people spreading the
swaths of the population. Because the quality of such a vaccine.” The MHRA made its recommenda- virus without having symptoms. An-
of the limited initial supply, the first tion following a so-called rolling re- other question is how long protection
shots will be reserved for those most Hancock said Britain will begin re- view that allowed it to assess infor- lasts.
in danger, namely nursing home pa- ceiving the first shipment of 800,000 mation about the vaccine as it became
tients, the elderly and health care doses from Belgium within days, and available, starting back in October. The vaccine also has been tested in
workers. people will start getting the shots as only a small number of children,
soon as it arrives. Two doses three “The safety of the public will always none younger than 12, and there’s no
Britain's Medicines and Healthcare weeks apart are required. The coun- come first,” said Dr. June Raine, chief information on its effects in pregnant
Products Regulatory Agency recom- try expects to receive millions of dos- executive of the agency. “And I em- women.
mended the vaccine after clinical tri- es by the end of this year, Hancock phasize again that this recommen-