Weeks after the United Kingdom became the first in the world to start inoculating its citizens, the country has approved another COVID-19 vaccine for usage.
The United Kingdom government mentioned in their statement that the MHRA or the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency had authorized the coronavirus vaccine manufactured by Oxford University/AstraZeneca after the rigorous clinical trials and a thorough analysis of the data by the experts working at the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.
Due to the approval of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine, the United Kingdom became the first nation to approve the vaccine made by the vaccine maker.
The statement also added that the vaccine had achieved the strict standards of safety, quality, and effectiveness imposed by the MHRA.
They also emphasized in the statement that the NHS has a clear vaccine delivery plan and possessed decades of experience in transporting large scale vaccination programs as it has already vaccinated hundreds of thousands of patients with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and its rollout will continue.
Also mentioned that the NHS will start putting their extensive preparations into action in order to roll out the vaccine of Oxford University/AstraZeneca.
Previously, the team handling and developing the said vaccine mentioned that it had only an average efficacy rate of 70%, with one doing regimen showing an efficacy rate of 90%, The Guardian reported.
Chief investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial, Andrew Pollard shared in November that they were excited after they have found that one of their dosing regimens is likely around 90% effective and if it will be used, more individuals could be vaccinated with the planned vaccine supply.
The Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca also promised that they will supply hundreds of millions of doses to low and middle-income countries, and will transport the vaccine on a not-for-profit basis to those nations in perpetuity.
According to CNN, The vaccine that was developed at Oxford University in England is way cheaper compared to the products from other vaccine makers, and it is easier and to transport and distribute in developing countries than the vaccines of its rivals as the vaccine does not require to be stored at a freezing temperature.
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Azra Ghani, the chairman in infectious disease epidemiology at Imperial College London shared that they think it is the only vaccine that can be used in those settings at the current time.
The vaccine produces by Oxford/AstraZeneca can be kept at refrigerator temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius or 36 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit for a minimum of six months while the vaccine of Moderna has to be stored at minus 20 degrees Celsius or minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit, and can last up to 30 days in refrigerator temperatures.
Moreover, the vaccine produced by Pfizer/BioNTech needs to be stored at minus 75 degrees Celsius or minus 103 degrees Fahrenheit, and only available for five days once stored in a refrigerator with a higher temperature.
Based on Ghani, the vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer require freezer storage, and it is not suitable for a lot of settings in the world, Deutsche Welle reported.
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