COVID-19: UK starts vaccination plan today

The United Kingdom will start on Tuesday (8) a plan to vaccinate the population against Covid-19.

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said this was a “historic moment”, referring to the date as “V-Day”. [uma referência ao Dia da Vitória da II Guerra Mundial].

The European country worst affected by the pandemic (with more than 61,000 deaths and more than 1.7 million cases), the United Kingdom is the first country in the world to allow the use of an antiviral vaccine (anticovid-19) developed by the Nordic group of medicines. The US company Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech will be the first Western country to start its own vaccination campaign.

In a statement released over the weekend, Matt Hancock said the first groups to receive the vaccine would be “the most vulnerable and those over 80”, as well as senior citizens’ homes, homes and the British Public Health Service (NHS).

British health authorities said details of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which must be stored at minus 70 degrees, pose a logistical challenge, adding that doses must be transported by a specialized company and that thawing takes several hours.

The UK has ordered 40 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which protects 20 million people, as this vaccine is given in two doses.

In the first phase, 800,000 doses will be available in the country.

Despite the speed with which the UK regulatory agency approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, the agency’s executive director, John Ryan, confirmed that the “highest international standards” had been applied.