U.K. becomes first country to approve Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine

The United Kingdom became the first country to formally approve the Pfizer and BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, a symbolic milestone in the fight against the pandemic.

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Key-Points

The British regulator Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) declared that the vaccine offers protection of up to 95 per cent and is safe to be used for immunisation against Covid-19.

The American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech last month concluded phase 3 study of their mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine candidate BNT162b2, meeting all primary efficacy endpoints.

BNT162b2 is a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by BioNTech and Pfizer and given by intramuscular injection.

It is an RNA vaccine composed of nucleoside-modified mRNA encoding a mutated form of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, and is encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles.