The first group to to receive the vaccine will be at-risk groups, including care home workers, health workers and the elderly.
"Help is on the way. The MHRA has formally authorized the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19. The NHS (National Health Service) is ready to begin vaccination early next week," UK Health Minister Matt Hancock announced on his social media networks.
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This makes the UK the first country in the world to have a clinically approved vaccine available for supply.
The Ministry of Health informed through a press release that the Government accepted the authorization of the MHRA for the use of the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech. "The government has today accepted the recommendation of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to approve the use of Pfizer/BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine," the text begins.
The statement points out that the MHRA has conducted "rigorous clinical trials and exhaustive data analysis" which showed that the vaccine meets "strict standards of safety, quality and efficacy."
"The Joint Committee on Vaccines and Immunizations (JCVI) will soon issue its final advice for priority groups to receive the vaccine, including nursing home residents, health and care workers, the elderly, and the clinically extremely vulnerable," the text continues.
Hancock also confirmed that "the vaccine will be available throughout the UK from next week. The NHS has decades of experience in implementing large-scale vaccination programmes and will begin to put into action its extensive preparations to provide care and support to all those eligible for vaccination."
The UK Government warned that even if mass vaccination starts soon, all health measures need to be maintained to prevent further cases of coronavirus. "To help the vaccination program succeed, it is vital that everyone continues to play their part and respect the necessary restrictions in their area so that we can further suppress the virus and allow the NHS to do its job without being overwhelmed," they request.
Pfizer and BioNTech announced a few days ago that ongoing Phase 3 studies of their COVID-19 vaccine showed 95 percent effectiveness in a group of 44,000 volunteers. In adults over 65, in particular, the effectiveness was 94 percent.
With that report, Pfizer and BioNTech have also already applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "for emergency use authorization."
For its part, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced that it plans to approve Pfizer's vaccine by December 29 and Moderna Pharmaceuticals' by mid-January.
Meanwhile, Pfizer and BioNTech highlighted that they expect to manufacture some 50 million doses of their vaccine against COVID-19 in the remainder of 2020 and around 1.3 billion next year.
"We have increased manufacturing capabilities around the world in an effort to meet the high demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic," said the American laboratory and the German biotechnology company.
"Based on current projections, we expect to produce up to 50 million doses of the vaccine globally by 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses by 2021," they added.