Hope to introduce COVID-19 vaccine in the UK by New Year: Report

The first vaccine is set to be given to the elderly and the vulnerable. (representative)

London:

According to media reports on Sunday, one of the UK’s top health care professionals has shown that the vaccine against COVID-19 may be ready to be deployed by the beginning of the new year.

Jonathan Vantam, Deputy Chief Medical Officer in the United Kingdom and one of the government’s advisors on the coronavirus pandemic, could deploy a vaccine created at Oxford University and manufactured by AstraZeneca shortly after Christmas. It was reportedly told to a member of parliament during December.

In India, the vaccine is being tested and is partnering with the Serum Institute of India.

“We’re not light-years away. It’s not a completely unrealistic proposal to be able to deploy the vaccine shortly after Christmas. It will have a significant impact on hospitalization and death,” said The Sunday Times. I quoted Vantam I told MP at a briefing last week.

A member of parliament who attended another briefing with Van Tam told the newspaper that the drug was “very bullish on the expected third-stage AstraZeneca results between the end of this month and the end of next month.”

“Bantam hopes it protects the elderly and vulnerable people. He made us understand that it stopped the” emission “of the virus in young people. He expects vaccination to begin in January, “MP said.

The UK government introduced a new law on Friday, allowing more healthcare workers to receive the flu and potential COVID-19 vaccine.

“COVID-19 vaccines are being developed at a speed that will save lives if successful,” Vantam said with reference to the new rules.

“All vaccines must undergo a three-stage clinical trial and be evaluated for safety and efficacy by regulators before being administered to patients. The measures outlined today improve access and protect patients. The aim is to strengthen existing precautions, “he said.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced that the new measures will increase access to vaccines for potentially fatal diseases and that the government will deploy potential COVID-19 vaccines that have proven safe and effective. He said he would also support his plans. Approved for use by regulators through intense clinical trials.

“The United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS) has extensive experience in vaccination of millions of people each year,” said Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health.

“These legislative changes are as soon as possible to ensure that they are ready to deploy a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine as soon as they pass clinical trials and undergo rigorous regulatory checks. It helps to do that, “he said.

The aim is to increase the number of well-trained and experienced healthcare professionals to administer COVID-19 and influenza vaccines under NHS and municipal occupational health schemes, and to administer these vaccinations to the general public. It is to enable the expansion of the labor force. This will give patients and healthcare professionals easy and quick access to the vaccines they need and protect them from fatal illnesses, DHSC said.

Therefore, if the vaccine was developed before 2021, changes in human medicine regulations would provide the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) with a temporary supply of treatment or vaccine needed to address public health. The existing authority to allow approval is strengthened. necessary.

This means that if the vaccine is found by MHRA to meet safety, quality and efficacy criteria, it will be vaccinated without waiting for the European Medicines Agency until the end of the transition period on December 31, this year. It means you can get started. -It would have been the only institution that could grant a license.

Dr. Christian Schneider, MHRA’s Interim Chief Scientific Officer, said: “Vaccines will not be deployed unless strict standards are met through a comprehensive clinical trial program.

“The preferred route to enable the introduction of new vaccines is maintained through the normal product licensing process, but strengthens regulatory and public health protection in case temporary approval is required. Enhanced safeguards are currently in place to help. “

The first vaccine is given to the elderly and vulnerable people, and then the other people at greatest risk are vaccinated. Population-wide deployment is expected to be a much longer-term process.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from the syndicate feed.)