The United Kingdom has become the first Western nation to adopt a vaccine against Covid-19, a milestone in the coronavirus pandemic.
The vaccine of the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and the German company BioNTech has been approved for urgent use by the Regulatory Authority for Drugs and Health Care Products (MHRA).
The UK has purchased 40 million doses of the vaccine, which has proved 95% effective. Phase III trials showed that the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine is effective in adults and does not cause serious concerns.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla described (via the Guardian) the authorization of the vaccine as "a milestone in the fight against Covid-19".
BioNTech and Pfizer have also sought authorization from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow urgent use of their vaccine. However, the vaccine should be stored in extremely cold temperatures (-70 degrees Celsius) and this infrastructure does not exist in many countries.
