UK approves Pfizer and & BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine

December 2, 2020: Pfizer and BioNTech Announced today that the medicines and health care products regulatory agency (MHRA) in the UK had granted a temporary authorization for emergency use for their vaccine against COVID19. This becomes the first authorization in a worldwide phase 3 trial of a vaccine to help fight the pandemic. 

The Pfizer/BioNTech is the fastest vaccine to go from concept to reality, taking only ten months to follow.

This has become the new hope of the novel coronavirus that has killed millions of people all around the world, shuffled the economy and the normal lives of the people.

The vaccine will be available across the UK from next week, and vaccinating the ones at risk of dying will be their priority, Britain says. 

Albert Bourla, Chairman and CEO of Pfizer, applauds MHRA for their ability to conduct a careful assessment and take timely action to help protect the people of the UK.

Pfizer and BioNTech continue to work in collaboration with governments and Ministries of Health around the world that will distribute the vaccine. 

The companies previously signed an agreement to supply a total of 40 million doses of vaccine in 2020 and 2021.

Now that the vaccine is authorized in the UK, the companies will take immediate action to begin the delivery of the vaccine doses. The first doses are expected to arrive in the UK in the coming days, with complete delivery fulfillment expected in 2021.

It is said to be 95% effective in preventing the illness. To assure the product quality, Pfizer has said the shots could be kept in thermal shipping boxes for up to 30 days. Afterward, the vaccine can be kept at fridge temperatures for up to five days. They have supplied and distributed their investigational vaccine to more than 150 clinical trial sites across the US, as well as Europe, Latin America, and South Africa reaching approximately 44,000 participants. Based on their collective experience, the companies believe in their capability to distribute the vaccine globally upon approval or authorization. 

“I’m really pleased to say that the UK is now one step closer to providing a safe and effective vaccine to help in the fight against COVID-19 – a virus that has affected each and every one of us in some way – and in helping to save lives,” Says June Raine, chief executive of MHRA.