PM welcomes regulator’s green light for new jab, as capital faces ‘ biggest threat’
PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson has said it is “excellent news” that a third coronavirus vaccine has been approved for use in the UK.
The jab, from US biotech firm Moderna, has been given the green light by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency ( MHRA), joining the vaccines from Pfizer/ BioNTech and Oxford/ AstraZeneca.
The Moderna jab has been shown to be 94 per cent effective against Covid- 19 and should be available in the UK from spring.
The Government has increased its order of the vaccine to 17 million doses – enough to vaccinate 8.5 million people – with batches expected to be released in phases.
Mr Johnson tweeted: “Excellent news the @ MHRAgovuk has approved the use of the @ moderna_ tx vaccine.
“Our national vaccine effort is accelerating to vaccinate priority groups with our existing two vaccines, and the Moderna doses will add to that when they become available in spring.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeted: “This is fantastic news and another weapon in our arsenal to tame this awful disease.”
Nearly 1.5 million people in the UK have already been vaccinated with the Pfizer/ BioNTech and Oxford University/ AstraZeneca vaccines, with the Government aiming to jab 15 million of those most at risk by mid- February.
The news comes as London mayor Sadiq Khan declared a “major incident” as the spread of coronavirus threatens to “overwhelm” the capital’s hospitals.
City Hall said Covid- 19 cases in London had exceeded 1,000 per 100,000, while there are 35 per cent more people in hospital with the virus than in the peak of the pandemic in April.
A “major incident” means the “severity of the consequences” associated with it are “likely to constrain or complicate the ability of responders to resource and manage the incident”.
Professor Kevin Fenton, Public Health England’s regional director for London, said: “This is the biggest threat our city has faced in this pandemic to date.
“The emergence of the new variant means we are setting record case rates at almost double the national average, with at least one in 30 people ( in London) now thought to be carrying the virus. Our NHS services are under immense pressure and currently another 800 people are being admitted to our hospitals every day.”
Scientists advising the Government believe the current lockdown may lead to a plateau of cases of coronavirus across the UK rather than the dramatic cut seen in the March and April lockdown.
Meanwhile, action is needed to ensure that people who are vaccinated against coronavirus continue to adhere to lockdown rules, Government scientific advisers have said.
Papers released by the Government from the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours ( SPI- B), which advises Ministers, said there was some evidence that “in the absence of any mitigation policies, some of those who have been vaccinated will show a reduction in personal protective behaviours ”, such as mask wearing and social distancing.