Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine: What you need to know in 500 words

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine needs to be shipped and stored at -70 degrees Celsius (-94F), or below [Dado Ruvic/Reuters

Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine: What you need to know in 500 words

Key details about the US-German-made vaccine, approved for use in the UK within days in the fight against coronavirus.

UPDATE: The @MHRAgovuk issued a temporary authorization for emergency use of our #COVID19 vaccine with @BioNTech_Group in the United Kingdom.

This marks the first authorization of a vaccine to help fight the pandemic following a worldwide trial.

— Pfizer Inc. (@pfizer) December 2, 2020

The UK has become the first country to approve Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for widespread use, a landmark move which will see the drug made available from next week.

The development follows trial results made public in mid-November showing the vaccine, produced by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, had a 95-percent success rate and caused no serious side effects.

Based on new messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, the jab was found effective across different age groups and ethnicities, raising hopes it will play a significant role in ending the pandemic.

“It’s the protection of vaccines that will ultimately allow us to reclaim our lives and get the economy moving again,” said Prime Minister Boris Johnson after the approval by the UK’s independent medicines regulator.

However, it is still not known whether the Pfizer-BioNTech shots, estimated to cost about 15 British pounds ($20) per dose, can stop people infected with the novel coronavirus from spreading it to others.

It also remains to be seen how long the vaccine’s effect will last.

The UK, home to about 67 million people, has ordered 40 million doses of the vaccine – enough to inoculate 20 million people, as it is given in two injections, 21 days apart.

There are three routes for transporting the vaccine into the country, a programme officials have warned will be challenging because it needs to be shipped and stored at -70 degrees Celsius (-94F), or below.

It is not yet clear exactly how many doses will arrive by the end of 2020, but 800,000 should be delivered from Pfizer’s manufacturing centre in Belgium in the coming days.

Care home staff and residents will be first in line to get vaccinated, followed by people older than 80, those deemed to be clinically vulnerable, and other health and social care workers.

Matt Hancock, health minister, said hospitals were ready to receive the doses.

The UK is battling Europe’s worst outbreak, with more than 1.6 million coronavirus cases recorded to date and more than 59,000 deaths.