Oxford/AstaZeneca vaccine gets the green light
The UK Government has this morning accepted the recommendation from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to authorise Oxford University/AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine for use.
This follows rigorous clinical trials and a thorough analysis of the data by experts at the MHRA, which has concluded that the vaccine has met its strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) will also publish its latest advice for the priority groups to receive this vaccine.
The NHS has a clear vaccine delivery plan and decades of experience in delivering large scale vaccination programmes. It has already vaccinated hundreds of thousands of patients with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and its roll out will continue. Now the NHS will begin putting their extensive preparations into action to roll out the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine.
Health Minister Matt Hancock hailed the news as ‘a real British succes story’.
Throughout this global pandemic the UK Government says they have always been guided by the latest scientific advice.
Having studied evidence on both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccines, the JCVI has advised the priority should be to give as many people in at-risk groups their first dose, rather than providing the required two doses in as short a time as possible.
Everyone will still receive their second dose and this will be within 12 weeks of their first. The second dose completes the course and is important for longer term protection.
From today the NHS across the UK will prioritise giving the first dose of the vaccine to those in the most high-risk groups. With two vaccines now approved, we will be able to vaccinate a greater number of people who are at highest risk, protecting them from the disease and reducing mortality and hospitalisation.
The JCVI’s independent advice is that this approach will maximise the benefits of both vaccines. It will ensure that more at-risk people are able to get meaningful protection from a vaccine in the coming weeks and months, reducing deaths and starting to ease pressure on our NHS.
To aid the success of the vaccination programme, it is vital everyone continues to play their part, abides by the restrictions in their area and remembers hands, face, space so we can suppress this virus and allow the NHS to do its work without being overwhelmed.
News of the second vaccine is timely – yesterday’s coronavirus figures were particularly grim. 53,135 new cases were reported across the UK on Tuesday. 1895 of these were in Scotland – our worst daily figure since the country was first hit by the virus back in February.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will make a statement later today. She is expected to welcome the Oxford/AstraZeneca announcement but will appeal to Scots to strictly adhere to current coronavirus guidelines over the New Year period.
Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has welcomed news that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine for use in the UK.
This means we can now proceed with arrangements for doses of the vaccine, which is the second coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine to be approved for use after the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, to be made available to our distribution centres throughout Scotland.
The vaccine has been procured on behalf of the four nations by the UK Government, who have ordered 100 million doses, of which Scotland will get 8.2% based on its population. We will begin to roll the vaccine out from 4th January, in the settings we have already been delivering in, moving out into more community settings from the 11th January.
For this vaccine as for Pfizer, the intention is to provide an important layer of protection to all adults but particularly those most at risk from serious illness and death from COVID-19. With age as the greatest risk factor, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) have retained the same phase 1 priority list.
The priority now is to vaccinate as many people with their first dose as quickly as possible, working through that priority list and the advice that the second dose for both vaccines can be given up to 12 weeks after the first means we can maximise this protection quicker than planned. The second dose remains critical for longer term protection and to complete the course.
Ms Freeman said: “At the end of a very difficult year this is a truly excellent piece of news. Oxford AstraZeneca has the major advantage of being much easier to store and transport, which means it is easier to administer in local settings. We are also expecting to receive it in significantly larger quantities than the Pfizer vaccine.
“With the four Chief Medical officers agreeing with the advice that we should prioritise delivering first vaccine doses to as many people on the JCVI Phase 1 priority list in the shortest possible timeframe, we are now able to maximise the impact of the vaccine programme in its primary aims of reducing mortality and hospitalisations for those at greatest risk.”
“When it is your turn to be vaccinated you will be contacted by your local health board and I urge you to please take up the offer.
“Vaccination is one of the most important tools we have as we work our way out of this pandemic. But as we vaccinate as many people as quickly as supplies allow, we have a new more transmissible strain of COVID-19.
“That makes it vital that we all continue our work to suppress the virus in Scotland, rigorously complying with the restrictions where we live and making sure we continue to wear face coverings, maintain 2m distance from others outside our own household and wash our hands regularly.
“These three strands – following all we need to do to suppress the virus, using our expanded testing programme to identify cases and break chains of transmission and rolling out vaccination as fast as supplies allow- are the three critical actions that will see us move, step by step, to a brighter spring and summer in 2021.”
