Vaccine rollout in UK accelerates, but doctors want faster second dose



[ad_1]

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign gained momentum on Saturday, with 5.9 million people now having a first dose, but medics have challenged the government over its policy to delay a second injection Pfizer vaccine for up to 12 weeks.

FILE PHOTO: A medical worker holds a dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a former nightclub that has been turned into an NHS vaccination center, at Batchwood Hall in St Albans, Britain January 8, 2021 . REUTERS / Paul Childs / File Photo

The UK government is widening the gap between the first and second vaccines, as it seeks to ensure that as many people as possible are protected against an initial dose of vaccine.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned on Friday that Britain’s new variant of COVID-19 could be associated with a higher level of mortality as the country’s death toll from COVID-19 approaches 100,000 – reaching 97,329 on Saturday.

But in a letter to England Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Chris Whitty, the British Medical Association said allowing the 12-week interval for the Pfizer vaccine went against the guidelines of the World Health Organization.

They urged the government to close the gap between Pfizer doses to a maximum of six weeks.

The vaccine’s makers, Pfizer and BioNTech, have warned that they have no evidence their vaccine will continue to be protective if the second dose is given more than three weeks after the first.

Leaving an interval of 12 weeks allows the British vaccination program to proceed quickly.

Government data released on Saturday showed that 5.86 million people have now received a first dose of the vaccine, after a record 478,248 people received the vaccine in the past 24 hours.

Whitty said on Friday that the longer wait between doses was a “public health decision” to vaccinate many more people and based on the fact that the vast majority of protection comes the first time.

The Department for Health and Social Affairs said the decision on the 12-week gap was taken after “a thorough review of the data” and was in line with recommendations from the UK’s four chief medical officers.

Great Britain uses the Pfizer vaccine and another from AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca backed the gap between its jabs, saying the data showed an 8-12 week gap to be a “sweet spot” for effectiveness.

Following Johnson’s warnings about the more deadly nature of the new variant, some scientists said on Saturday it was too early to be clear on what the evidence was showing.

“The question of whether it’s more dangerous in terms of mortality, I think, is still open,” Graham Medley, professor of infectious disease modeling at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told the BBC.

Editing by Jason Neely and Helen Popper

[ad_2]

Source link