Less than a week after receiving emergency-use authorization, Pfizer began rolling out its vaccine in the U.K. on Tuesday, WSJ reports.
Those set to receive the first doses are people “over 80 years old, nursing-home workers and other high-risk health-care staff were front of the line: a group estimated to number six million.”
Coming next, the FDA is expected to approve Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine in the U.S. On Tuesday, the regulator is set to “release detailed analyses of the first Covid-19 vaccine being considered for U.S. distribution, providing the foundation for Thursday’s pivotal meeting of a panel that will advise on its possible approval for emergency use.”
- Pfizer had previously reported its vaccine had a 95% efficacy rate against symptomatic Covid-19.
The FDA’s analysis could provide more insight into the safety data collected from Pfizer’s late-stage trials. No severe side effects were observed, and the shot appears to be well-tolerated.
- But Pfizer will still monitor participants for two years to assess how long vaccine-generated protection may last.
Looking Ahead: “A positive recommendation from the advisory panel is likely to lead to the FDA’s formally granting an emergency-use authorization of the vaccine in a matter of days.” Moderna’s Covid-19 will face review next week.
Distribution Issues: While 79% of U.K. people who participated in an Ipsos poll in October said they would take a Covid-19 vaccine, compared to 64% in the U.S., and supply-chain issues persist. The U.K. ordered 40 million doses of Pfizer’s shot, but it requires two, precisely-timed doses while being stored in a specific temperature-controlled environment.
- As a result, the British government has restricted the first stage of the rollout to 50 hospital hubs.
Justin Oh:
The real challenge will be distributing these vaccines to the masses. My hypothesis is still that this will be a gradual distribution over the course of 2021.
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