U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson looks at the newly authorized AstraZeneca/Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine. Image: WPA Pool/Getty Images
Health officials in the U.K. authorized the AstraZeneca-Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday, giving the nation a second option for inoculation against the coronavirus.
The government will begin rolling out the inexpensive and easy-to-store vaccine beginning Monday. It has ordered 100 million doses enough to vaccinate 50 million residents, or three-quarters of the country s population.
The government has already given first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to more than 600,000 Britons.
U.K. Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock said Wednesday that between the two vaccines, the government will be able to protect the entire population.
Image credit: WPA Pool
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Health officials in the U.K. authorized the AstraZeneca-Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday, giving the nation a second option for inoculation against the coronavirus.
The government will begin rolling out the inexpensive and easy-to-store vaccine beginning Monday. It has ordered 100 million doses enough to vaccinate 50 million residents, or three-quarters of the country’s population.
The government has already given first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to more than 600,000 Britons.
Flights from UK cancelled by India to contain the new strain of COVID-19
A new strain of the novel coronavirus has been identified in the United Kingdom. The new COVID-19 strain is 70% more transmissible than the former one.
| 21 Dec 2020 2:54 PM GMT
New Delhi: All the flights to the United Kingdom from India have been suspended following the concern over the new strain of the COVID-19 virus, which is said to be 70 per cent more transmissible.
Apart from India, several other countries have also banned the flights and travellers from the UK to their countries to prevent the spread of this new strain of the novel coronavirus.
‘Indian born and bred’ PVAI solution to monitor Covid-19 vaccine reactions in UK
December 22, 2020
Pharmacovigilance, which is about monitoring the safety of medical products, is an over $2-billion market globally - Jackie Niam
Pharmacovigilance, which is about monitoring the safety of medical products, is an over $2-billion market globally - Jackie Niam×
Developed by Genpact, the speedy mechanism can capture adverse effects
If an adverse event occurs when the Covid-19 vaccine is administered to people in the UK, it will be captured using software tools developed by coders in Bengaluru and Noida. The UK has recently approved the mRNA vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech for rollout, and it has also put in place a speedy mechanism to track reactions to the vaccine.
Covid-19 news: Calls grow for UK government to abandon Christmas plan newscientist.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from newscientist.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.