Britain is the first country in the world to approve a new COVID-19 vaccine from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, working with German biotech company BioNTech.
The UK government said it has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use and that it will be rolled out from next week.
“The Government has today accepted the recommendation from the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to approve Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for use,” the government said in a statement.
“The vaccine will be made available across the UK from next week.”
Analysis shows the vaccine can prevent 95 per cent of people from getting COVID-19, including 94 per cent in older age groups.
The vaccine has been tested on 43,500 people in six countries and no safety concerns were raised.
Approval means the UK can begin rolling out the vaccine to those most in need, including frontline NHS workers.
What type of vaccine is this?
The jab is known as a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine.
Conventional vaccines are produced using weakened forms of the virus, but mRNAs use only the virus’s genetic code.
An mRNA vaccine is injected into the body where it enters cells and tells them to create antigens.
These antigens are recognised by the immune system and prepare it to fight coronavirus.
What are the advantages of this type of vaccine?
No actual virus is needed to create an mRNA vaccine. This means the rate at which it can be produced is dramatically accelerated.
As a result, mRNA vaccines have been hailed as potentially offering a rapid solution to new outbreaks of infectious diseases.
In theory, they can also be modified reasonably quickly if, for example, a virus develops mutations and begins to change.
mRNA vaccines are also cheaper to produce than traditional vaccines, although both will play an important role in tackling COVID-19.
One downside to mRNA vaccines is that they need to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures and cannot be transported easily.
Is the vaccine safe?
All vaccines undergo rigorous testing and have oversight from experienced regulators.
Some believe mRNA vaccines are safer for the patient as they do not rely on any element of the virus being injected into the body.
mRNA vaccines have been tried and tested in the lab and on animals before moving to human studies.
The human trials of mRNA vaccines – involving tens of thousands of people worldwide – have been going on since early 2020 to show whether they are safe and effective.
Pfizer will continue to collect safety and long-term outcomes data from participants for two years.
