UK approves Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for distribution next week

British health authorities have approved a coronavirus vaccine developed by US pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German biotech company BioNTech, according to a press release from the two. companies. The first doses will be given free of charge to some of Britain’s most vulnerable and healthcare workers early next week; This is good news for a world that is fed up and fed up with this global situation. pandemic shit.

The Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the UK’s equivalent of the FDA, on Wednesday announced authorization to use the vaccine on an emergency basis, becoming the first Western country to allow an injection of covid -19. 19 which will hopefully slow the spread of the virus. Russia and China have developed their own vaccines which were distributed before testing their safety and efficacy in phase 3 clinical trials.

“It is the protection of vaccines that will ultimately allow us to get our lives back and get the economy going,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted. Wednesday while praising the work of regulators.

TThe German government gave BioNTech $ 445 million to develop the vaccine, What do you use a new revolutionary technique for employing Messenger RNA, or MRNA. Despite attempts by the Trump regime to take credit for creating the vaccine, the United States government has not contributed financially to its development beyond the purchase of millions of doses.

The United Kingdom reached an agreement with BioNTech /Pfizer in July for 30 million doses (15 million treatments, since each person needs two doses), which was extended in October to 40 million doses (20 million treatments). The UK has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, with at least 1.6 million infections and more than 59,000 deaths in the country of 67 million people, although the United States remains the global epicenter of the pandemic, with more than 13.7 million confirmed cases and more. 270,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

“Delivery of the 40 million doses will take place throughout 2020 and 2021, in stages, to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines to all geographies with executed contracts,” Pfizer said in a declaration at the British level. “Now that the vaccine is licensed in the UK, companies will take immediate action to start administering doses of the vaccine.”

The BioNTech /The Pfizer vaccine has a reported efficacy rate of 95%, although it should be stored at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit, much cooler than the average freezer. an obstacle that governments around the world are trying to overcome increase the availability of ultra-cold warehouses.

The UK’s nationalized health system, the National Health Service, will distribute the vaccine for free and residents will be notified when it is their turn to receive the vaccine, according to the UK. Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who spoke with the BBC

this morning.

The BioNTech /The Pfizer vaccine is being produced in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Puurs, Belgium, and flights are already taking off to countries around the world pending approval from various governments and local health authorities. The first shipments of the Pfizer vaccine to the United States arrived in Chicago on November 27, according to CNBC, and will likely be stored in Wisconsin prior to distribution nationwide.

The United States has an initial contract with Pfizer for 50 million doses, enough to immunize 25 million Americans, although they may eventually purchase 600 million doses. The United States has a population of more than 330 million and the Trump regime has promised the vaccine will be available free to all Americans. Japan has requested 120 million doses from Pfizer and the EU, which has 27 member countries, has requested 300 million doses.

A CDC panel of experts met on Tuesday to decide who should receive the vaccine first in the United States and recommended prioritizing the country’s healthcare workers in a vote of 13 a 1. Doctors and nurses have been devastated by the pandemic, with hundreds of thousands infected and at least 1,700 deadNot to mention the emotional toll that this era places on health professionals. CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield has yet to give final approval of the plan on Wednesday, which is largely There are plans to do what the FDA still needs to approve the vaccine for Americans.

But there are still important questions about who will be second in line for the vaccine after health workers in the United States., according to former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb who spoke to CBS News during the long Thanksgiving weekend. The next two categories of people to consider are probably essential workers and the elderly, who present different challenges and benefits. in a health system with limited supply.

Prioritizing the elderly for vaccination would be a good idea if your goal was to immediately reduce the death rate. The United States has about 20 million people over the age of 75 and 50 million over the age of 65, with older people most prone to serious illness and death from covid-19. About 39 percent of COVID-19 deaths in the United States have occurred in nursing homes and other facilities for the elderly, according to a recent analysis by the New York Times