PFIZER'S COVID-19 VACCINE GIVEN THE GREEN LIGHT BY UK REGULATORS AND IS SET TO BE ROLLED OUT WITHIN A WEEK

The UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MRHA) has given the approval for widsespread use of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines which are now set to be rolled out across the country.

The UK has secured 40 million doses of the MRNA based vaccine from its manufacturers who say that it is 95% effective at preventing infection from Covid-19. Each recipient will be given an initial dose and later a booster dose to give maximum efficiency.

This makes the UK the first country in the world to have a clinically approved vaccine for supply, with the roll out set to start within as little as a week. The first 800,000 doses will be arriving in the country from the companies distribution centre in Belgium within days, with the rest to follow.

NHS Chief Executive, Sir Simon Stevens, said that the health service was preparing for "the largest-scale vaccination programme in our country's history", with 50 hospitals across the country already on standby and venues up and down the country being rushed to be set up and ready for use as vaccination centres in the coming weeks.

However, this will take time to become effective in the community, and so it is essential that the Tier 3 rules set across Salford are adhered too for the foreseeable future.

Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, Tweeted: "Help is on the way".

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said:

“The government has today accepted the recommendation from the independent MHRA to approve Pfizer/BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine for use.

“This follows months of rigorous clinical trials and a thorough analysis of the data by experts at the MHRA who have concluded that the vaccine has met its strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.

“The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) will shortly also publish its latest advice for the priority groups to receive the vaccine, including care home residents, health and care staff, the elderly and the clinically extremely vulnerable.

“The vaccine will be made available across the UK from next week.”