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UK becomes first country to approve Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for use

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UK becomes first country to approve Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for use

The United Kingdom became the first country in the world on Wednesday to approve Covid-19 vaccine for public use ahead of the US and European countries.

In November, Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE’s announced that it had developed a Covid-19 vaccine that could offer 95 per cent effective protection against the pandemic.

The British government said the Covid-19 vaccine will be rolled out from next week, ALJazeera reported.

“The Government has today accepted the recommendation from the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to approve Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for use,” the government said in a statement.

“The vaccine will be made available across the UK from next week,” the statement said.

Read also: US to distribute 6.4m doses of Covid-19 vaccine

Pfizer and BioNTech say they have won permission for emergency use of their Covid-19 vaccine in Britain.

“This authorisation is a goal we have been working toward since we first declared that science will win, and we applaud the MHRA for their ability to conduct a careful assessment and take timely action to help protect the people of the UK,” said CEO Albert Bourla.

“As we anticipate further authorisations and approvals, we are focused on moving with the same level of urgency to safely supply a high-quality vaccine around the world.”

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