UK verifies authorization of second COVID-19 vaccine

The Government of the United Kingdom says it has authorized the second Covid-19 vaccine for use in the UK, allowing a significant expansion of the immunisation programme with hundreds of more vaccination sites opening in the coming weeks and months to protect those most at risk from the virus.

A statement from the Press and Public Affairs Officer, British Deputy High Commission, Lagos said the UK regulator has accepted the recommendation of the Commission on Human Medicines and authorised the Oxford University/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, following months of rigorous clinical trials involving tens of thousands of people and an extensive analysis of the vaccine’s safety, quality and effectiveness by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

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The vaccine it said is highly effective in preventing disease, including in the elderly, and said that vaccinations will begin from next week.

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The UK was the first in the world to sign an agreement with Oxford University/AstraZeneca, securing access to 100 million doses of the vaccine on behalf of the whole of the UK, crown dependencies, and overseas territories.

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According to the statement, hundreds of thousands of doses are available from Monday 4 January with more to be delivered over the coming weeks and months so that, alongside the existing Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, the UK’s vaccination programme can continue its steady expansion over the first part of next year.

“Vaccines are the exit route from the pandemic. We have already vaccinated hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people and the new Oxford jab will allow us to accelerate our vaccination plan, allowing us to return to normality in the future.

In line with the recommendations of the JCVI, it said the vaccine will be rolled out to the priority groups including care home residents and staff, people over 80, and health and care workers, then to the rest of the population in the order of age and risk, including those who are clinically extremely vulnerable.