Britain has begun its biggest ever immunisation programme after it became the first country in the world to administer a vaccine against coronavirus outside a clinical trial. The first Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines were administered in dozens of hospital hubs across Britain on Tuesday, with people over 80 the first to receive them.
Britain has ordered 40 million doses of the vaccine, which requires two doses three weeks apart and must be refrigerated at -70C. Some 800,000 doses have already arrived in the country.
Fermanagh-born Margaret Keenan, who will turn 91 next week, became the first person in the world to receive the vaccination, administered at a hospital in Coventry, where she has lived for 60 years.
She described the vaccination as “the best early birthday present I could wish for” because she could now spend time with family and friends over the Christmas.
“My advice to anyone offered the vaccine is to take it – if I can have it at 90 then you can have it too,” she said.
Health secretary Matt Hancock told MPs that Tuesday's rollout of the vaccine from 70 hospitals would accelerate quickly to reach care homes and doctors' surgeries.
“This week we will vaccinate from hospitals across the UK. From next week we will expand deployment to start vaccinations by GPs, and we will vaccinate in care homes by Christmas. As more vaccines come on stream in the new year we will open vaccination centres in larger venues, such as sports stadiums and conference halls.”
Mr Hancock warned that the threat of coronavirus remained great as a further 616 deaths were recorded as infections rose in parts of the country. He said social distancing restrictions would remain in place until it was safe to remove them.
“All of us in government feel encouraged by today’s progress, but we are also determined and resolute to get through this in the safest way possible, and out into the brighter seas beyond, when we can get rid of the restrictions altogether,” he said.
“Many of us have suffered loss during this pandemic, and we want it to be over as soon as we can. We must keep going until it is safe to do so.”
Clinical trials
AstraZeneca and Oxford University on Tuesday published data from clinical trials showing their vaccine was safe and between 62 per cent and 90 per cent effective against the virus.
A peer-reviewed study in The Lancet said further research was required to determine why a sub-group of a relatively small number of people who received a half dose followed by a full dose appeared to have fared better than those who received two full doses.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is cheaper than other vaccines and does not require refrigeration at extreme temperatures, making it easier to distribute.
Mene Pangalos, head of AstraZeneca’s non-oncology research and development, said the company could apply for approval for the vaccine from regulators around the world before the end of the year.
“We hope that once the regulatory authorities review the data, we can get approval any time from the completion of the submission, which could be any time from the end of this year to early next year.”
