Updated Dec 2, 2020 - Health

U.K. first nation to clear Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for mass rollout

Rebecca Falconer

A health care worker holds an injection syringe of the phase 3 vaccine trial, developed against COVID-19 by the U.S. Pfizer and German BioNTech in Ankara, Turkey on October 27 — A health care worker during the phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial by Pfizer and BioNTech in Ankara, Turkey, in October. Photo: Dogukan Keskinkilic/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

The U.K. government announced Wednesday it approved Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine, which "will be made available across the U.K. from next week."

Why it matters: The U.K. has beaten the U.S. to become the first Western country to give emergency approval for a vaccine that's found to be 95% effective with no serious side effects against a virus that's killed nearly 1.5 million people globally.

Per Axios' Jonathan Swan, FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn was summoned to the White House Tuesday to explain why he hadn't moved faster to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

What they're saying: Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeted that the U.K. is "the first country in the world to have a clinically approved vaccine for supply."

Pfizer chair and CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement, "As we anticipate further authorizations and approvals, we are focused on moving with the same level of urgency to safely supply a high-quality vaccine around the world."

The big picture: The U.K. government has ordered 40 million doses of the vaccine, which is enough to inoculate some 20 million people. The nation has one of the highest COVID-19 death rates in Europe, with over 59,000 people losing their lives to the virus.

The New York Times notes that the U.K. drug regulator's approval testifies to a strategy that's been "the most aggressive in the West," after breaking away from the EU's health regulations and bolstering an old law to fast-track a review on Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine.

Of note: The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has to be stored at temperatures well below freezing (about -94°F or -70°C).

But the companies say that once delivered it can be kept for up to five days in a fridge after thawing.

For the record: Russia and China have already cleared coronavirus vaccines, but they're not waiting for the results of large-scale clinical trials — prompting scientists to cast doubts on their safety and efficacy.

🎧 Go deeper: Axios Re:Cap interviews Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

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U.K. first nation to clear Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for mass rollout

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