UK rolls out First COVID-19 Vaccine of the World

The United Kingdom (UK) has become the first country of the world that has rolled and used the COVID-19  vaccine. The vaccine was approved to use by the regulators last week.

Highlights

  • Britain started rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine on December 8, 2020.
  • The vaccine has been developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
  • Some 70 hospital hubs in the UK are inoculating the people over-80s, health and care staff.
  • The vaccination drive has been started with an aim to protect the most vulnerable and return life to normal.
  • 87-year-old Dr Hari Shukla of Indian Origin received the first coronavirus vaccines.
  • The vaccine is being given as two injections with a hap of 21 days. Full immunity is reaching seven days after the second dose.
  • However, it is yet unknown, now long this immunity would last or whether it stops people from spreading the virus.
  • The vaccine has been manufactured in Belgium.

Emergency use approval

The vaccine got the emergency use approval. The approval was provided by the   Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). This had made the  UK the first country in the West that has allowed the mass inoculations against the Covid-19. Around 40 million doses of the vaccine called BNT162b2 would vaccinate over 20 million people.

BNT162b2 Vaccine

It is a COVID-19 vaccine. It has been developed BioNTech. The vaccine has been manufactured and distributed by Pfizer. This vaccine is an RNA vaccine and it is composed of nucleoside-modified mRNA (modRNA). it encodes a mutated form of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. In November 2020, interim analysis of the trial was examined and it was concluded that the vaccine may have an efficacy of over 90% in preventing the infection within seven days of the second dose. The vaccination is done in two doses 21 days apart. It was tested on thousands of people during August–September 2020 before it was given approval. The candidates did not showed any serious side effects. The United Kingdom’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) gave the approval for its use in December 2020. It is still unknown whether the vaccine will prevent severe infection in children, pregnant women, or immune-compromised people.