Britain issues emergency approval for the Biontech-Pfizer vaccine and starts using it



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09:40

Wednesday 02 December 2020

Mainz – (dpa):

The German company “Biontech” and “Pfizer”, the American pharmaceutical company, announced today, Wednesday, that the British Medicines Regulatory Authority has issued an emergency approval for the new vaccine against the new Corona virus that causes Covid- 19 developed by the two companies.

This will give the British the green light to get a vaccine sooner than the European Union and the United States of America.

This is also the world’s first approval of the vaccine called “BNT162b2”.

Today, the two companies announced that the first shipments should arrive in the UK in a few days. The two companies said in a statement: “The first emergency approval of the Covid-19 vaccine is a pioneering scientific quantum leap.”

A spokesman for the UK health ministry confirmed that the approval was issued today in London.

For the Biontech / Pfizer vaccine, an extensive series of tests demonstrated efficacy that provides 95% protection against Corona. After completing the recent analyzes, the two companies said the vaccine worked equally well across all age groups and other demographic differences and showed virtually no serious side effects. The percentage of protection offered by vaccination to people over the age of 65 is over 94%.

These positive results concern the prevention of Covid 19 disease. It is not yet clear to what extent the vaccine also protects against infections and the possibility of transmission of the virus.

The European Medicines Agency, “IMA”, also intends to make a decision on the recommendation to approve the Corona vaccine for Biontec and Pfizer this December. The agency announced Tuesday that the results of the review will be available by December 29 at the latest.

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