COVID-19 Vaccine is a Great Step Forward For the UK
Kieran Burt
The COVID-19 vaccine approval is a big win. It means that the world can truly begin to recover from the pandemic, economically and socially. It means that the focus can now be shifted to the ‘green recovery’ touted by Johnson. It means we can truly protect those that need protection
In a briefing on Thursday 3rd December, Jonathan Van Tam announced that the first jabs could cut 99% of deaths. This is huge. While the need for social distancing and the lighter COVID-19 restrictions are still a must, it means that the larger restrictions can be applied less harshly. Though this remains to be seen, and we will need to be cautious about this figure. We still need to be cautious about restrictions going into 2021. It will not be until mass vaccinations start that restrictions will finally end completely.
The UK being the first country to approve this excites me as well. Our vaccinations will begin on Tuesday. This is well ahead of countries like America, who don’t even meet to discuss vaccine approval until the 10th of December.
This approval also means we can quickly move to the vaccination program, meaning those most vulnerable can be protected sooner. While at first the rollout of the vaccine will be difficult, especially because it has to be stored at low temperatures, I’m confident that methods will be improved, just like testing, to match the capacity needed for mass vaccination.
The UK being the first country to approve it annoyed some people. Dr Fauci in the United States appeared to criticise the UK’s process of approving a vaccine, saying “They really rushed through that approval”. This shocked me; whilst I support Fauci’s calls of caution throughout the pandemic, I wholly disagree with this statement. He was largely quiet on Trump’s ineffective handling of COVID-19, so the fact that he would come out against independent regulators was even more surprising. He attempted to walk some of it back, though still emphasised the difference between methods of approval. To me it was him expressing disappointment and jealously that America wasn’t first. I can only imagine what Trump’s rage was.
It also appeared to annoy the EU. They also criticised the speed of approval, saying that their longer approval was more appropriate, with politicians from member states criticising the move as well. They will decide whether or not to grant approval on the 29th of December. This highlights a benefit of leaving, the fact that we will be able to get started on vaccinations nearly a month ahead of the EU.
This is a surprising criticism as well, as the EMA (European Medicines Agency) headquarters were located in London prior to Brexit. Both sets of regulators would have had closely worked with one another, so their standards would have been very similar if not identical. Those standards would not have changed since the EMA left the UK. It is just a political point scoring criticism as the UK is set to finish its transition phase.
The MHRA was able to review this vaccine quickly because it started a rolling review process in October, where the data from each stage is reduced as soon as it has come in rather than all at once at the end of trials. It is important to remember that the MHRA is an apolitical body, so allegations of political interference are unfounded. It is also well-regarded and often seen as a leading body in its field.
Moving away from feelings of annoyance of the criticism from our allies, this vaccine helps to show us the future of vaccine development. Pfizer and Moderna were both trying new vaccine development methods, using the messengerRNA. These types of vaccines had yet to be proven to work in an outbreak situation, and now they yield promising results for vaccines in the future. Researchers are for example looking at using mRNA vaccines to “harness the immune system to fight cancer”. Now that these types of vaccines are proven to work, companies will likely invest more into their research in the future.
While I have been very optimistic in this piece, it is important to remember that challenges remain. The low storage temperatures of the vaccine and stocks of it will be strained. It will take time for everyone to be vaccinated and life to return to a more normal pace. The UK death toll for COVID recently passed 60,000 reminding us of the very real danger presented to everyone from the virus. However, this means that the future is bright.