Britain's medicine and health-care regulator, the MHRA, gave emergency approval Wednesday for the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech, making the U.K. the first country to green-light the promising vaccine for mass rollout. Britain has already ordered 40 million doses of the vaccine, or enough to inoculate 20 million people, and the first doses should arrive in the coming days. "Help is on its way," Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeted: "The NHS stands ready to start vaccinating early next week."
Pfizer and fellow drugmaker Moderna have reported a 95 percent effectiveness rate for their vaccines from large human clinical trials. Both vaccines use a new approach, relying on messenger RNA, or mRNA, to teach the body how to fight off the new coronavirus. Moderna has also applied for emergency use authorization in Britain and the U.S., and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve both vaccines in the next two or three weeks. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows summoned FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn to the West Wing on Tuesday to explain why the FDA hasn't already approved Pfizer's vaccine, Axios reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Is flexible working better for business?Today's Big Question Labour wants to end 'culture of presenteeism' and make hybrid working a 'default right' for UK employees
-
'Sex, drugs, violence'Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
-
Princess of Wales returns to work in first meeting of 2024Speed Reed Early Years project has been the 'cornerstone' of Catherine's charitable work
-
Empty-nest boomers aren't selling their big homesSpeed Read Most Americans 60 and older do not intend to move, according to a recent survey
-
Brazil accuses Musk of 'disinformation campaign'Speed Read A Brazilian Supreme Court judge has opened an inquiry into Elon Musk and X
-
Disney board fends off Peltz infiltration bidSpeed Read Disney CEO Bob Iger has defeated activist investor Nelson Peltz in a contentious proxy battle
-
Disney and DeSantis reach detenteSpeed Read The Florida governor and Disney settle a yearslong litigation over control of the tourism district
-
Visa and Mastercard agree to lower swipe feesSpeed Read The companies will cap the fees they charge businesses when customers use their credit cards
-
Reddit IPO values social media site at $6.4 billionSpeed Read The company makes its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange
-
Housing costs: the root of US economic malaise?speed read Many voters are troubled by the housing affordability crisis
-
Feds cap credit card late fees at $8speed read The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule to save households an estimated $10 billion a year
