UK decision to delay second Covid vaccine approved by advisers

LONDON – Health experts have conditionally backed the UK’s decision to delay administration of a second dose of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, warning that the need to suppress the new strain of coronavirus “does not may be overestimated “.

This comes shortly after the UK said second doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, in addition to the newly approved Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, would now be given up to 12 weeks after the first dose.

The national health service had previously planned to administer a second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine three weeks after the first, to be sure to maintain a high level of protection against the virus.

The UK’s Independent Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said in a statement on Sunday that it was a “very difficult and finely balanced decision”, but endorsed the UK government’s decision to continue to cover as high a proportion of the population as possible.

However, he said the policy change must be accompanied by several other measures. These included: the publication of a comprehensive and compelling strategy to scale up vaccination deployment, development of a rigorous evaluation process, real-time assessment of ongoing viral variation and the need to restrict movements to and from Great Britain to the rest of the country. the world.

SAGE is made up of health experts and academics and is co-chaired by the UK Government’s Chief Science Advisor and the Chief Medical Officer.

The comments come despite criticism from the British Medical Association over the UK’s decision to delay second doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. He described the decision as “extremely unfair” to thousands of at-risk patients in England.

“The BMA believes that the existing commitment made to these patients by the NHS and local clinicians should be honored. If GPs decide to honor these booked appointments in January, the BMA will support them,” Dr Richard Vautre, chairman of the BMA GP committee, said in a statement Dec. 31.

Responding to these concerns, the SAGE committee said, “Under normal circumstances, we would advocate for the continuation of previous plans to administer two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine 21 days apart. However, these are not normal circumstances and there are other important public health considerations. “

The German Ministry of Health on Monday asked for the opinion of an independent vaccination commission on whether to follow in the UK’s footsteps.

A ministry spokesperson confirmed to CNBC that the German government has asked the Robert Koch Institute’s Standing Committee on Immunization whether the country should delay a second injection of the Pfizer vaccine. “Such a decision requires scientific consideration,” they added.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that the government may soon announce more stringent public health measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Johnson said “tough” measures could be in place for weeks to come. At present, over three-quarters of the UK’s population are at level 4 – the highest level of restrictions.

The opposition Labor Party said the government must impose a nationwide lockdown within 24 hours, warning that the virus was “clearly out of control”.

The United Kingdom recorded more than 50,000 new confirmed Covid-19 infections on Sunday for the sixth day in a row. The country continues to fight a new strain of the virus that is spreading faster.

To date, the UK has reported more than 2.6 million cases of coronavirus, with 75,137 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

“It is now clear that the new variant of the virus, which appears to have emerged in the south-east of England, is significantly more transmissible than the previous variants, by 40 to 80%,” SAGE said in a statement from January 3.

“It is also clear that the current Level 4 restrictions are unable to contain its spread, even with the closure of schools and universities.”

“The pandemic is now out of control and the NHS is in trouble, with some hospitals having to stop non-COVID-related activities. The NHS is no longer protected. For these reasons, there is a strong case for maximizing population coverage. with at least one dose of vaccine, even if that requires a change in the dosage schedule, ”the group added.