BioNTech/Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine “Safe And Effective” – MHRA
A COVID-19 vaccine produced and developed by BioNTech and Pfizer “meets rigorous high standards for safety,” the UK’s Medical and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has said.
Chief Executive Dr June Raine insisted that “no corners have been cut” during a press conference Wednesday. Raine explained the clinical trials are “overlapping” to progress the process faster. “Separate teams have been working in parallel to deliver this review,” she said — instead of starting one after the other.
Professor Munir Pirmohamed, chair of the COVID-19 Vaccines Benefit Risk Expert Working Group of the Commission on Human Medicines, said any side effects of the vaccine during trials were “very mild” and only lasted a day or so. He explained the vaccine will be effective seven days after the second dose has been administered. But some protection starts to kick in after about 12 days.
“Good news, we have a vaccine that is safe and effective,” Professor Wei Shen Lim, chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), an independent expert advisory group, added. The first doses will go to those most at risk of dying from the virus, such as care home residents, and health care professionals.
