Shipping of the first Covid vaccines internationally should be on track for next month with inoculation expected to commence before the end of the year, according to officials from various nations including the US, UK and EU.
Credit: Wolfman-K (Flickr)
Pfizer and BioNTech recently sent their vaccine - which has just entered phase III clinical trials - in for certification in the US, but the UK is expected to be the first nation to sanction its use.
Read more: Results Show AstraZeneca Corona Vaccine Could be 90% Effective
US approval is awaiting confirmation from the Food and Drug Administration advisory board and is expected sometime after their meeting on December 10.
Anthony Fauci, head of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told NBC on Sunday: “We likely, almost certainly, are going to be vaccinating a portion of the individuals in the first priority before the end of December.”
The National Health Service (NHS) has begun setting up dozens of inoculation centres around the country in preparation and is set to begin inoculation on the most vulnerable members of the public as soon as they are able.
Read more: 6,000 Volunteers to be inoculated in Phase 3 Vaccine Tests
German officials noted preparations had been made to begin vaccinations next month once EU officials sanction the vaccine.
The EU recently announced plans to purchase up to 300 million doses of Pfizer's Covid vaccine to begin shipping across the bloc.
Clinical trials have shown the vaccine to be up to 95% effective on patients suffering from coronavirus symptoms.
The EU hope to have the vaccine shipped out by the end of the year, as a part of its post-pandemic recovery initiative.
Regulators are facing a constant uphill battle between the public health needs of the population during a pandemic and ensuring the vaccine is safe for application.
EU regulators, such as the European Medicines Agency (EMA), are being hurried to complete their assessments owing to the UK and US's near-completion of preliminary processes.
However, the EMA confirmed in a statement that it had not faced "any political pressure" to complete its assessments sooner.
It said: “The recommendation will be based on the strength of the scientific evidence on a vaccine’s safety, quality and efficacy, and nothing else.
“Authorisation will be granted when the evidence shows convincingly that the benefits of vaccination are greater than any risks of the vaccine.”
It is also hoped the vaccine could be efficiently shipped across the world to immunise the frontline and healthcare workers who have been at the centre of the pandemic since its inception.
This has lead to numerous controversies including how healthcare services across the world are often understaffed and underpaid and being forced to work incredibly long work hours to compensate.
Back in April, a WHO report concluded that frontline workers were the highest at risk of not only catching Covid but also faced significant workplace violence and stress-related mental health issues.
The report concluded that sufficient measures needed to be enforced to ensure maximum safety for both patients and medical staff to not exacerbate the issues associated with the virus.
Cases of frontline workers testing positive for coronavirus was considered particularly important owing to underreporting.
A study into the same area conducted a few months later offered similar results.
Discussion about increased pay for healthcare workers early on in the pandemic was shuttered by the UK government.
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