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UK is first country to approve COVID vaccine
The COVID-19 vaccine
The United Kingdom has become the first western country to approve the use of a vaccine to prevent against the infection of the deadly coronavirus in humans.
According to the BBC, UK’s drug regulator, the MHRA says the jab, which offers up to 95% protection against Covid-19 illness, is safe to be rolled out.
The logistical challenges surrounding its use, including keeping in extra cold conditions of minus 70 degrees celsius, make the vaccine out of reach of poor Countries like Uganda.
The BBC has quoted British Minister for health Matt Hancock as saying the first 800,000 doses of the vaccine that was jointly produced by the American company Pfizer and a European upstart BioNtech, as being ready for use as early as next week.
The Pfizer/BioNTech jab is the fastest vaccine to go from concept to reality, taking only 10 months to follow the same steps that normally take 10 years.
The UK has ordered 40 million doses of the free jab – enough to vaccinate 20 million people.
The doses will be rolled out as quickly as they can be made by Pfizer in Belgium, Hancock said, with the first load next week and then “several millions” throughout December.
Hancock is quoted as having said: “I’m confident now, with the news today, that from spring, from Easter onwards, things are going to be better. And we’re going to have a summer next year that everybody can enjoy.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson added: “It’s the protection of vaccines that will ultimately allow us to reclaim our lives and get the economy moving again.”
There have been news of a COVID Vaccine made in Russia, but our research indicates that the scientific community is generally unimpressed with the findings of the study upon which the so called Sputnik vaccine was declared 92% effective in preventing Coronavirus.
For example, www.sciencemag.org a respected scientific research outlet, the sputnik trial breached minimum standard of vaccine trials.
Race for doses
The UK’s announcement of a confirmation may also be seen as the first step in a race for who gets the vaccine first.
Because of logistical limitations, poorer Countries such as Uganda may not be able to gain access to the vaccine soon enough as the companies are obliged to complete their outstanding orders.
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