Now that Britain has become the first western country to approve a Covid-19 shot, the spotlight shifts to the high-stakes rollout. Vaccinating the country’s roughly 67 million people won’t happen overnight. The UK has ordered enough doses of the two-shot Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to immunise 20 million people.
Who will get the vaccine first?
The government plans to prioritise as it begins to deploy the vaccine, starting with residents and staff in care homes, then moving to people over 80 years old and health-care workers, documents show.
Britain will immunise people throughout the wider population next, based on age and risk. The shot is expected to be available from next week.
Where will people get it?
In the UK, 50 hospitals are ready to administer the vaccine, followed by doctors and pharmacists, assuming they have the facilities needed to store the doses, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Sky News. The country has moved to expand the pool of people who can give the jabs beyond the National Health Service to other health professionals. “This is no different from any other vaccine,” Sean Marett, who handles distribution for BioNTech, said at a briefing. “You go to your center, you roll up your sleeve, and you receive in your arm a vaccination.”
Where is the vaccine at the moment?
The vaccine is still at Pfizer’s production site in Puurs, Belgium. The doses will be shipped to the UK by truck or plane and become available there next week.
Can I get more than one shot?
Not for now. The UK only cleared the vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech, although a product using a similar technology from Moderna may also get approved soon. It may become possible to mix shots when other vaccines are approved. That should work for shots that target the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, according to Andrew Pollard, who is leading the University of Oxford’s vaccine trial with AstraZeneca The three front-runners use the spike protein as a target, as do many others in clinical tests.
How does the approved vaccine compare with others?
The product relies on a technology called messenger RNA, which has never been used to make approved vaccines before. So does Moderna’s. Both showed they were more than 90 per cent effective in clinical trials. The main difference is that the Pfizer-BioNTech product must be stored ultra-cold until a few days before it is used. Moderna’s vaccine is stable at refrigerator temperatures for 30 days.
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU