LONDON – The UK became the first country in the world to approve the Oxford University / AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for use on Wednesday, and the government will adopt a new vaccination strategy that focuses on giving as many people as possible the first dose .
“The government today accepted the recommendation of the Regulatory Agency (Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency – MHRA) to use the Covid-19 vaccine from Oxford University / AstraZeneca,” said a spokesman for the UK Department of Health and Human Services. social care said in a statement on Wednesday. . “This follows rigorous clinical trials and a thorough analysis of the data by MHRA experts, who concluded that the vaccine meets its strict standards of safety, quality and efficacy.”
The authorization comes at the end of a month when the UK also became the first country to authorize the use of the Pfizer vaccine, which has since been approved by both the US and the EU.
In a change in the government’s strategy to administer vaccinations, the vaccination of Oxford / AstraZeneca and the Pfizer vaccine will be followed by a new approach recommended by the British Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JVCI) , which administers the first dose widely.
“After evidence from both Pfizer / BioNTech and Oxford University / AstraZeneca vaccines, the JCVI advised that the priority should be to give as many people in risk groups their first dose, rather than the required two doses in a short time possible, “Everyone will still receive their second dose and it will be within twelve weeks after their first dose.” The second dose completes the course and is important for long-term protection. “
Several experts said the new approach could help get more people vaccinated in less time.
“In my opinion, the evidence for delaying the second dose of vaccine to enable as many people as possible to get the first dose sooner is clear,” said Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia. “I have no doubt that this decision will save many lives. But everyone will eventually need a second dose to ensure that the protective effects of these vaccines last.”
Stephen Evans, a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the move was ‘meaningful’.
Scott Gottlieb, the former head of the US Food and Drug Administration and Pfizer board member, told USA Today earlier this month: “I feel very strongly that we need to get as many shots in the arms as soon as possible. The reality is that one dose is partially protective. “
Margaret Keenan, the first person to receive a COVID-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials in the West earlier this month, administered her second dose of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine at a hospital in England on Tuesday.
The lead researchers behind the AstraZeneca vaccine at the University of Oxford welcome the news as an ‘important’ moment.
“Although this is just the beginning, we will advance the pandemic, protect health and economies when the defenseless are vaccinated everywhere, as soon as possible,” said Andrew Pollard, professor and lead researcher of the Oxford vaccine trial. , said in a statement. According to the Oxford Vaccine Group, the newly authorized vaccine is ‘stable, easy to manufacture, transported and stored at domestic fridge temperature’, meaning it can be ‘deployed very quickly’.
Although clinical trials published in The Lancet have shown that the AstraZeneca vaccine is 70% effective compared to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, both of which have efficiencies of over 94%, each requires colder temperatures than AstraZeneca / Oxford: The Pfizer vaccine requires a special freezer that keeps it at -94 degrees Fahrenheit. and the Moderna vaccine can be stored in the freezer at a normal temperature.
“This vaccine is particularly exciting as it can be easily applied to existing healthcare systems around the world, stored at refrigerator temperature and using existing delivery mechanisms,” said Dr Jeremy Farrar, director of Wellcome, a medical research organization in London. .
As part of their joint partnership with AstraZeneca, the university said the vaccine would be available on a non-profit basis around the world – and reportedly at a lower cost. Based on various distributor agreements, the Oxford vaccine is available at $ 2.50 per dose, compared to $ 20 for the Pfizer vaccine and between $ 15 and $ 25 for the Modern vaccine, according to The Associated Press.
AstraZeneca also has an agreement with the Serum Institute India to produce up to 1 billion doses of the vaccine to the world’s middle- and low-income countries.
“The availability of large amounts of doses in the UK and via different funding mechanisms for lower-income countries is of great importance,” Evans said.
The authorization comes as the number of people in the UK admitted to hospital this week with COVID-19 surpassed the peak of the first wave in April, and the UK posted a record number of daily cases of coronavirus.