The United Kingdom on Friday, 8 January, gave regulatory approval to the COVID-19 vaccine developed by US manufacturer Moderna, making it the third vaccine for a mass inoculation drive in the country.
The vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech as well as the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine have already received approval in the country and rollout has begun as well.
The development comes amid a third lockdown in the country after an increased number of cases and the new mutant strain which has created havoc.
A press release by the UK government said that the approval given to Moderna’s vaccine came after a “thorough and rigorous assessment” by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) teams of scientists, which found that the “vaccine meets the required standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.”
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the approval of the Moderna vaccine “is further great news and another weapon in our arsenal to tame this awful disease,” according to AFP.
“Today’s approval brings more encouraging news to the public and the healthcare sector. Having a third COVID-19 vaccine approved for supply following a robust and thorough assessment of all the available data is an important goal to have achieved and I am proud that the agency has helped to make this a reality,” MHRA Chief Executive Dr June Raine said.
Britain’s Department of Health and Social Care said that 17 million doses of the vaccine have been ordered and will be delivered once Moderna increases production capacity.
The approval by the UK to Moderna comes days after the European Union’s drug regulator, European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Wednesday approved the shot, making it the second vaccine candidate to be given emergency approval in the 27 nations of the EU, according to AFP.
(With inputs from AFP.)
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