(Adds background)
Nov 28 (Reuters) - Britain is set to approve the COVID-19
vaccine developed by BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc
next week and deliveries would begin within hours of the
authorisation, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.
The first immunisations using the BioNTech and Pfizer
vaccine could take place from Dec. 7, the FT said, citing
unnamed sources. https://on.ft.com/3o6JrSG
Earlier in the day, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
named Nadhim Zahawi, currently a junior business minister, as
the minister responsible for the deployment of COVID-19
vaccines.
Britain said on Nov. 20 it had formally asked its medical
regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory
Agency (MHRA), to assess the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
for its suitability, the first step in making it available
outside the United States.
Britain has ordered 40 million doses of the vaccine, which
has been found to be 95% effective in preventing the spread of a
virus that has killed more than 1.4 million people worldwide and
crippled the global economy.
The government asked the regulator on Friday to assess
AstraZeneca Plc's COVID-19 vaccine for a possible
rollout.
It has secured 100 million doses of the vaccine developed by
AstraZeneca and Oxford University and has targeted a rollout to
begin before Christmas.
(Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Alex
Richardson and David Evans)
Astrazeneca (AZN)
