Following Highest Single Day Death UK Speeds Up COVID-19 Vaccination Drive

UK saw the highest single-day death total which has increased the need to speed up mass vaccination program against COVID-19. Many programs have started in the UK which has aimed to both stop the rampant spread of the outbreak as well as to pull the country out of a third national lockdown. UK is hoping to vaccinate the highest-risk populations by the end of spring. Considering the current situation of the outbreak, these programs may be the nation’s only hope to resolve this dire situation.

Arafa Salam, PhD, Infectious Diseases Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, said, “On December 2 the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) granted emergency-use authorization for the Pfizer/BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine,BNT162b2, with the UK being the first to vaccinate someone for COVID-19 outside of a trial setting. Shortly after the approval, the UK went under a third national lockdown and the country also reported a new variant of the virus, seemingly more contagious than the original variant, making the approval of the vaccine all the timelier.”

In order to stop the outbreak, on 30 December the MHRA approved the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, AZD1222 and on 8 January they also approved Moderna’s vaccine, mRNA-1273. Both the vaccine doses of Pfizer/BioNtech and the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine has to be given 12 weeks apart.

Even though the mass vaccination program has started in UK, on 13 January a record high of 1,564 deaths were seen bringing total deaths to more than 84,000. This has increased the need to vaccinate as many individuals as possible with the three vaccines is more crucial now than ever.

The Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine needs to be stored at a temperature of -80 degree Celsius and will pose a big challenge for some clinics and general practitioners. However, the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine has to be stored at 2-8 degrees Celsius which can be easily used and the cost for this vaccine per dose is £3 which is cheaper than the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine which costs £15 per dose.

Due to the low cost and storage temperatures, UK will favor the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine.

The Moderna’s vaccine is approved but it is still in early in the launching phase. The mechanism of action of this vaccine is similar to the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine.

She added, “The three vaccines represent hope for the nationwide vaccination program to resolve the outbreak and may prevent the UK from breaking single-day death records again.”

Source-Medindia