UK regulator begins its review of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for public use

The UK regulator for assessing vaccine standards has
begun reviewing the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine, which the country plans to put
in use as soon it gets the approval from the body.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s
(MHRA) is reviewing data from Pfizer/BioNTech for quality, safety and efficacy.

The UK is expected to get about 40 million doses of the
vaccine  from the firms by the end of 2021. The vaccine is jointly developed by Pfizer (US) and
BioNTech (German) and is claimed by the two companies to have 94% effective across age
groups.

Also Read| COVID vaccine developed by Oxford, AstraZeneca is 70% effective

The country is in the process of procuring 355 million
vaccine doses from as many as seven vaccine developing firms and agencies.

The
count includes 100 million doses of the one being developed by the University of Oxford
and AstraZeneca, which was on Monday announced to have an average accuracy of about
70% in its interim trial.

“This is another important step on the road to recovery. We
must now allow the MHRA’s renowned teams of scientists and clinicians to make
an independent assessment of whether it meets their robust standards of
quality, safety, and effectiveness,” said UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock,
according to a report in PTI.

“If approval is granted, the NHS (National Health Service) will be ready to deliver. The NHS has vast experience in delivering widespread
vaccination programmes and an enormous amount of work has taken place to ensure
we have the logistical expertise, transport and workforce to roll out a vaccine
according to clinical priority, at the speed at which it can be manufactured,”
he said.

The vaccine will be administered to general public once it
is vetted for quality, safety and efficacy by the public regulator.

The UK
health department has said it has already roped in several general physicians
and hospitals across the country for a smooth vaccination programme.