The UK MHRA, on 2 December, approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, making it the first inoculation to be approved anywhere in the world after the due scientific process. The Moderna vaccine was approved by the US on 18 December.
The UK approved on Wednesday the coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, paving the way for its introduction at a time when the country is in the grip of its worst wave of infections, and offering an important endorsement that is likely to be taken into account in India, where the authorities reviewed the inoculation later in the day.
While the United Kingdom has indicated that it will begin to administer the first shots from next week, it is likely that Indians will have to wait a little longer, as the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) – which examines data from safety and efficacy trials – has indicated that a decision has yet to be reached and that a further meeting will be convened on Friday. The decision of the SEC is likely to take into account the approval of the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Adenovirus vaccine is being manufactured by the Pune Serum Institute of India (SII). Described as a "world vaccine," it is the most likely candidate to meet a large portion of India's vaccination needs because it is cheaper, easier to store and transport, and likely to be more available than the two other vaccines so far approved in other countries—mRNAs developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.
The UK MHRA approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on 2 December, making it the first inoculation to be approved anywhere in the world after the due scientific process. The Moderna vaccine was approved by the United States on 18 December.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who spent several days in intensive care with Covid earlier this year, called the approval of the Oxford vaccine "truly fantastic news" and "a triumph for British science."
"We're going to move as quickly as possible to vaccinate as many people," he said.
On Tuesday, 53,135 new cases of Covid were registered in the United Kingdom—the largest single-day increase since mass testing began—as well as 414 more deaths, raising the country's need to speed up its vaccination method.
London, which is one of the places in south-east England where a new, more communicable strain has spread, reported 14,875 new cases. The state-funded hospital system in the United Kingdom has been almost overwhelmed, with 21,286 Covid-19 patients, causing some hospitals to cancel other procedures.
In New Delhi, the CDSCO SEC held its second meeting on coronavirus vaccines, attended by SII members seeking approval for emergency use. Pfizer-BioNTech and Bharat Biotech were both pursuing approvals, which were addressed at the meeting.
"The next time was asked on behalf of Pfizer. Additional data and information provided by SII and Bharat Biotech Pvt. Ltd. have been investigated and analyzed by the SEC. The study of additional data and information is continuing. SEC will meet again on 1 January 2021 (Friday)," said the government's announcement. The SEC demanded details from SII and Bharat Biotech on 9 December.
The Union Government has declared that India intends to vaccinate at least 300 million people at high risk against Covid-19 by July of next year. The list of recipients to be included in the priority list is currently being drawn up.
In the United Kingdom, the priority list includes some 25 million people, the BBC reported. Until 24 December, the last date on which data were available, according to Our World in Data, 800,000 of these people had received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Andrew Pollard, Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and Chief Investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial, said: "The regulator's assessment that this vaccine is safe and effective is a landmark moment and an endorsement of the enormous effort made by a dedicated international team of researchers and our dedicated trial participants."
Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer of AstraZeneca, said that the company could deliver up to 2 million doses a week to the United Kingdom, with the first doses coming on Wednesday or Thursday: "Vaccination will start next week and we'll get up to 1 million doses a week and more than two million doses a week very quickly."
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: "Because we have enough of this vaccine to vaccinate the entire population – we have 100 million doses on order – add that to 30 million doses of Pfizer, and that's enough for two doses for the entire population."
But the import of the UK decision is seen as important to other countries since the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is cheaper than its rivals and easier to store or transport. Ultra-cold or freezer temperature storage required by other vaccines is "very impractical" in developing countries, said Dr. Gillies O'Bryan-Tear, Chair of Policy and Communications at the UK Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, Reuters. It means one of the AstraZenecas one "may reach more parts of the world than one of the Pfizers," he said.
The company has also said that it would market it at a dose of $2.50 and plans to make up to 3 billion doses by the end of 2021.
