Posted by Michael Wonder on 02 Dec 2020
Britain becomes the first country to license a fully tested COVID-19 vaccine
1 December 2020 - Inoculations with the Pfizer-BioNTech jab could start in less than a week.
The first fully-tested COVID-19 vaccine has been authorised for use in Britain. The drug regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, has granted emergency authorisation to the vaccine made by Pfizer, an American pharmaceutical giant, and BioNTech, a smaller German firm.
Trials have shown that the vaccine has an efficacy of 95%. Ugur Sahin, head of BioNTech, said the decision would reduce people in the high-risk population being hospitalised. The firms anticipate further such decisions in the coming days and weeks, and say it marks an historic milestone in the fight against COVID-19.
