US biotech company Moderna, Inc. has announced that the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved its mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 for use under Regulation 174.
The temporary authorization permits the supply of COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna in Great Britain and is based upon the advice of the UK Commission on Human Medicines.
“We appreciate the confidence shown by the UK MHRA in COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna with this decision, which marks an important step forward in the global fight against COVID-19,” said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna.
“I want to thank the MHRA and the Commission on Human Medicines’ reviewers for their tireless efforts. The authorization of a product developed by Moderna is a significant milestone on the Company’s 10-year journey, and I would like to thank all our colleagues that have helped us get to this point.”
The United Kingdom government has also exercised its option to purchase an additional 10 million doses of the COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna, bringing its confirmed order commitment to 17 million doses. The first deliveries of the COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna to the UK from Moderna’s dedicated non-U.S. supply chain are expected to commence early in 2021.
The UK is the fifth jurisdiction to authorize COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna, following the United States on December 18, 2020, Canada on December 23, 2020, Israel on January 4, 2021 and the European Union on January 6, 2021.
Additional authorizations are currently under review in a number of countries including Singapore and Switzerland.
The vaccine will be available for free and the government is working with the devolved administrations to ensure it is deployed fairly across the UK.
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: “This is fantastic news and another weapon in our arsenal to tame this awful disease.
“Through our vaccine delivery plan we have already vaccinated nearly 1.5 million people across the UK. The Moderna vaccine will boost our vaccination programme even further once doses become available from the spring.
“While we immunise those most at risk from COVID, I urge everyone to continue following the rules to keep cases low to protect our loved ones.”
Nearly 1.5 million people in the UK have already been vaccinated with the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccines, with more than 1,000 vaccination sites live by the end of the week across the UK to rapidly scale up the vaccination programme.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) will submit updated advice on which groups to prioritise for vaccination before doses become available.
Business Secretary Alok Sharma said: “Vaccines are the key to releasing us all from the grip of this pandemic, and today’s news is yet another important step towards ending lockdown and returning to normal life.
“The UK was one of the first countries in Europe to sign a deal with Moderna, and I’m delighted our Vaccine Taskforce has secured an additional 10 million doses of their highly effective vaccine to protect the British public and save lives.
“From the scientists and trial volunteers to our world-class regulators and clinicians, we are enormously grateful to everyone who has played their part in this national effort to defeat the virus and get our country back on its feet.”
The NHS has decades of experience in rolling out successful widespread vaccination programmes and is putting into place extensive preparations for the roll-out of the Moderna vaccine ahead of the spring.
The Moderna vaccine will be deployed through similar methods:
- hospital hubs for NHS and care staff and older patients to get vaccinated
- local community services with local teams and GPs already signing up to take part in the programme
- vaccination centres across the country, ensuring people can access a vaccine regardless of where they live
Vaccine Deployment Minister Nadhim Zahawi said: “The NHS is pulling out all the stops to vaccinate those most at risk as quickly as possible, with over 1,000 vaccination sites live across the UK by the end of the week to provide easy access to everyone, regardless of where they live.
The Moderna vaccine will be a vital boost to these efforts and will help us return to normal faster.
Through the Vaccines Taskforce, the UK has secured early access to 367 million doses of 7 of the most promising vaccines so far. To date, the government has invested over £230 million into manufacturing a successful vaccine. In the Chancellor’s Spending Review, published on 25 November, it was announced that the government has made more than £6 billion available to develop and procure successful vaccines.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said: The highly effective Moderna vaccine is another impressive success for science and is another testament to the hard work of researchers and selfless clinical trial volunteers.
This vaccine will save lives once doses become available, but it is crucial we all continue to follow the rules to protect each other until enough people have been protected.
Interim Chair of the government’s Vaccines Taskforce Clive Dix said: This is another important milestone in our efforts to end this pandemic, and I would like to thank those in the government’s Vaccine Taskforce who have worked so hard to negotiate agreements with vaccine developers.
“A key objective for the Vaccine Taskforce is to ensure we have a range of vaccines to deliver to the UK population. The addition of the Moderna vaccine to the UK’s portfolio is important to reach that goal.”
Yesterday’s announcement was a glimmer of bright light on Covid’s darkest day. Thursday saw the worst figures since the virus hit the UK last year. A record 68,053 cases were recorded – and there were 1325 deaths, another unwanted record. Scotland also saw it’s worst figures – 93 deaths were registered on Thursday and 1530 people were in hospital with the virus.
Health professionals have said that the worst is yet to come. Vaccination really cannot come fast enough.
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