Category Archives: Vaccines and immunisation

Covid vaccine arrives in UK hospitals ready for first jabs

Posted on by

Medical director warns of great hurdles in largest vaccination campaign in UK history

Batches of the Covid vaccine have begun to arrive in hospitals around the UK, ready for the first jabs on Tuesday in what NHS England’s medical director warned would be the largest and most complex vaccination campaign in the country’s history.

The UK’s record-breaking approval of the vaccine and the rapid start of immunisation against Covid-19 did not mean the end of the pandemic was in sight, said Prof Stephen Powis. It would be a marathon and not a sprint, he said.

Continue reading...

The vaccine miracle: how scientists waged the battle against Covid-19

Posted on by

We trace the extraordinary research effort, from the discovery of the virus’s structure to the start of inoculations this week

In the early afternoon of 3 January this year, a small metal box was delivered to the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Centre addressed to virus expert Prof Zhang Yongzhen. Inside, packed in dry ice, were swabs from a patient who was suffering from a novel, occasionally fatal respiratory illness that was sweeping the city of Wuhan. Exactly what was causing terrifying rises in case numbers, medical authorities wanted to know? And how was the disease being spread?

Related: ‘I worked so hard in the lab. I cried when the news came’

Continue reading...

Military planes to fly vaccines in to Britain to avoid ports hit by Brexit

Posted on by

Officials fear delays even after EU deal as Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen order talks to resume

Tens of millions of doses of the Covid-19 vaccine manufactured in Belgium will be flown to Britain by military aircraft to avoid delays at ports caused by Brexit, under contingency plans being developed by the government.

Both the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and senior sources at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed to the Observer on Saturday that large consignments would be brought in from 1 January by air if road, rail and sea routes were subject to widely expected delays after that date.

Continue reading...

Team behind Oxford Covid jab start final stage of malaria vaccine trials

Posted on by

Vaccine could be in use by 2024 if next year’s human trials are successful

The Oxford team that has produced a successful coronavirus vaccine is about to enter the final stage of human trials in its quest for an inoculation against malaria.

The Jenner Institute director, Prof Adrian Hill, said the malaria vaccine would be tested on 4,800 children in Africa next year after early trials yielded promising results.

Continue reading...

Moscow delivers Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine to clinics

Posted on by

Health workers and teachers have priority in first mass immunisation programme

Moscow’s coronavirus taskforce said on Saturday that it was distributing the Sputnik V vaccine to 70 clinics, marking Russia’s first mass Covid-19 immunisation.

The taskforce said the Russian-made vaccine would be made available first to doctors and other medical workers, teachers and social workers because they ran the highest risk of exposure to the disease.

Continue reading...

How vaccine approval compares between the UK, Europe and the US

Posted on by

The regulatory fast-tracking of the Covid vaccine in Britain by MHRA has led some to question its methods

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) in the UK has not had a round of applause from anyone other than the UK’s politicians and the vaccine companies. It gave temporary authorisation to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on Wednesday and within hours, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) put out a stiff statement implying more work was needed than the UK regulator had done. Its own decision could come as late as 29 December. It may well have been needled by the crowing of the health secretary, Matt Hancock, who claimed the fast approval as a Brexit triumph. He had to backtrack. The MHRA’s chief executive, June Raine, pointed out that the agency had simply taken advantage of a provision that any country in Europe could use, to fast-track approval in a pandemic.

Continue reading...

Beating the anti-vaxxers: how star power can help squash vaccine myths

Posted on by

Analysis: Vaccine hesitancy is growing, thanks in part to social media misinformation. Time for the Elvis approach?

The statement by the US president-elect, Joe Biden, that he would be happy to be publicly vaccinated against coronavirus to encourage people to follow suit – following similar pledges from Barack Obama, George W Bush and Bill Clinton – highlights a fundamental concern in global health circles.

Vaccine hesitancy – as well as anti-vaccination activism, sometimes promoted by celebrities – is growing. Countries that were once measles-free are seeing new cases due to suspicion over vaccination. Vaccine hesitancy was listed a year ago as one of the World Health Organization’s 10 global health threats to watch, alongside Ebola and the threat of a global influenza pandemic. Coronavirus came instead.

Continue reading...

European and US experts question UK’s fast-track of Covid vaccine

Posted on by

Some criticise jingoistic tone of announcement and say longer process may prove preferable

Politicians, health professionals and commentators in Europe and the US have questioned Britain’s decision to fast-track approval of a coronavirus vaccine and criticised what some saw as the jingoistic tone of its announcement.

The UK on Wednesday became the first country in the world to approve a Covid-19 vaccine when the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) granted the Pfizer/BioNTech shot emergency authorisation for clinical use.

Continue reading...

Williamson on vaccine approval: Britain is ‘a much better country than all of them’ – video

Posted on by

Gavin Williamson told LBC's Nick Ferrari that the UK was the first country to approve a Covid-19 vaccine, ahead of the EU and the US, because, "we're much better".

"I just think we have the very best people in this country and we've got the best medical regulators. Much better than the French have, much better than the Belgians have, much better than the Americans have," he added when pushed on whether Brexit played a part

Continue reading...

Gavin Williamson: UK is ‘a much better country than every single one of them’

Posted on by

Education secretary lauds vaccine rollout saying scientists in UK better than in France, Belgium or US

The education secretary, Gavin Williamson, has claimed the UK was the first country in the world to clinically approve a coronavirus vaccine because the country has “much better” scientists than France, Belgium or the US.

Williamson said he was not surprised the UK was the first to roll out the immunisation because “we’re a much better country than every single one of them”.

Continue reading...

‘The scientists have done it’: Boris Johnson hails Covid vaccine

Posted on by

PM says news brings ‘sure and certain knowledge’ that people can reclaim their lives

Boris Johnson has declared that the nation is no longer resting on the hope of a return to normality by spring but instead has the “certain knowledge” that people can reclaim their lives, as he hailed the arrival of the newly approved Covid-19 vaccine.

The prime minister told a Downing Street press conference on Wednesday that “the scientists have done it”, although he stressed that people should not get carried away with “over-optimism”, insisting that they continue to abide by the rules.

Continue reading...

UK coronavirus live: Boris Johnson leads Downing Street briefing after vaccine approved for use

Posted on by

Latest updates: PM holds press conference after earlier warning people not to ‘get hopes up too soon’ about early vaccination

Stevens is talking about the vaccination guidelines. (See 11.23am.)

The roll-out will be phased, he says.

Johnson urges people in tier 3 areas to take part in community testing.

And people should follow the restrictions, he says.

Continue reading...

‘Day to remember in a year to forget’: Hancock says first 800,000 doses of vaccine tested – video

Posted on by

Matt Hancock has reiterated that the UK is the first country in the world to have a clinically approved coronavirus vaccine for supply, and the government was prepared for it to be 'ready to go' once approval came through.

Batch testing has been completed for the first 800,000 doses of the vaccine that will be available for the whole of the UK, Hancock said. Britain has ordered stocks of seven different vaccines, comprising 350m doses in total. The NHS will start vaccinating from 'early next week'

Continue reading...

No corners have been cut in Pfizer vaccine approval, says UK regulator chief – video

Posted on by

People should be confident in the safety of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine, the chief executive of the UK regulator said. Dr June Raine, head of the Medical and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), said the vaccine had been subjected to rigorous testing and had met strict standards of safety and quality

Continue reading...

UK approves Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine for rollout next week

Posted on by

‘Historic moment’ allows mass immunisation, with 800,000 doses expected to be available next week

The UK has become the first western country to license a vaccine against Covid, opening the way for mass immunisation with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to begin next week for those most at risk.

The vaccine has been authorised for emergency use by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA), before decisions by the US and Europe. The MHRA was given power to approve the vaccine by the government under special regulations before 1 January, when it will become fully responsible for medicines authorisation in the UK after Brexit.

Continue reading...

UK likely to be first western country to license a Covid vaccine

Posted on by

Regulator expected to authorise Pfizer/BioNTech jab for emergency use within days

Britain is expected to become the first western country to authorise a coronavirus vaccine, raising the prospect of immunisations beginning weeks ahead of the rest of Europe.

The UK medicines regulator is set to license the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for emergency use within days, and possibly as soon as Wednesday. Britain has ordered 40m doses, of which 10m are expected to be available this year.

Continue reading...

Protecting others and record of vaccines main reasons to get Covid jab, poll shows

Posted on by

Survey suggests almost one in two British people expect life to return to normal in a year

Preventing others from catching coronavirus and immunisation’s proven success against disease are the main reasons people see for taking the new vaccine, research has shown.

In a survey of 1,049 Britons, the top two reasons for having it – each cited by 77% – were to protect others from the virus and because vaccines have a long track record of working.

Continue reading...

Life after Covid: will our world ever be the same?

Posted on by

From cities, to science, to politics, six Observer writers assess how a post-pandemic world will emerge into a new normal

Here are some things that the pandemic changed. It accustomed some people – those whose jobs allowed it – to remote working. It highlighted the importance of adequate living space and access to the outdoors. It renewed, through their absence, an appreciation of social contact and large gatherings. It showed up mass daily commuting for the dehumanising drain on energy and resources that it is.

Continue reading...

Nadhim Zahawi appointed minister in charge of Covid-19 vaccine rollout

Posted on by

UK business minister to take on additional role as NHS prepares for mass deployment

Nadhim Zahawi, a minister for business and industry, has been placed in charge of overseeing the deployment of the Covid-19 vaccine, Downing Street has announced.

No 10 said the Stratford-on-Avon MP would take on the role until at least next summer.

Continue reading...