Jill Lawless
Resident Margaret Keating, 88, receives the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Abercorn House Care Home in Hamilton, Scotland, Monday Dec. 14, 2020. (Russell Cheyne/PA via AP) January 23, 2021 - 8:42 AM
LONDON - A major British doctors group says the U.K. government should âurgently reviewâ its decision to give people a second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine up to 12 weeks after the first, rather than the shorter gap recommended by the manufacturer and the World Health Organization.
The U.K., which has Europeâs deadliest coronavirus outbreak, adopted the policy in order to give as many people as possible a first dose of vaccine quickly. So far almost 5.9 million people in Britain have received a shot of either a vaccine made by U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and Germany s BioNTech or one developed by U.K.-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
The Covid-19 pandemic will continue into 2021.
For one thing, that programme will take some time. It’s not clear yet exactly when everyone in Scotland will be offered a vaccine, and it takes around a month from the first dose to maximum protection. That does mean that as we enter the new year the first batch of those vaccinated will be reaching their maximum immunity.
That isn’t complete immunity – it’s around 90 per cent effective – but it’s certainly something to celebrate. The vaccine programme represents a colossal achievement, for all the scientists working so hard to develop each of the vaccine candidates, and for everyone involved in the logistics of the rollout.
Submitting.
The health secretary added that NHS Scotland expects to receive an additional 172,575 doses of the Pfizer vaccine by the end of the week, half of which will be retained to ensure people get their second dose.
Ms Freeman added that pending the approval of the AstraZeneca vaccine by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the Scottish Government plans to begin the rollout of that vaccine to over-80s who do not live in care homes across Scotland.
She said these jabs were most likely to be administered in GP practices.
The health secretary said: “A key area that would help streamline the process further is predictability of delivery but this is not in our gift.
Coronavirus vaccine: More than 18,000 Scots given first dose as weekly updates begin scotsman.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from scotsman.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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