As UK approves Pfizer-BioNtech's COVID-19 vaccine, here's who will get vaccinated first

With British administration aiming to roll out COVID-19 vaccines as early as next week, officials have unveiled their priority list for the first phase of its distribution. According to a press release, care home residents and their carers would be a topmost priority to receive vaccine shots followed by elderly and frontline workers. Two groups, which would not recive the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine would include children below the age of 16 and pregnant women, owing to health risks.

Read: Pfizer, Moderna, Oxford, Sputnik V: As Covid Vaccines Publish Results, Here's What We Know

_{Priority list for Vaccine distribution, Credits: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk}

According to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the vaccine won’t be “generally available for children.” Clarifying the reason for the exception, the committee explained that most children have the mild and asymptomatic disease. “However it will be available for "those children at very high risk of exposure and serious outcomes, such as older children with severe neuro-disabilities that require residential care,” the committee explained.

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UK approves Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine

The UK on December 2 has become the first country in the world to approve Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine candidate for widespread use. The British regulator, MHRA has said that the mRNA-based vaccine that has shown 95 per cent efficacy, is safe for mass roll out with immunisations in the country starting "early next week" among the high priority groups. Britain has reportedly already placed an order of 40 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine to provide the double-dose immunisation to at least 20 million people. 

"The Government has today accepted the recommendation from the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to approve Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for use. This follows months of rigorous clinical trials and a thorough analysis of the data by experts at the MHRA who have concluded that the vaccine has met its strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness," UK government said in a statement.

Read: UK Approves Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID Vaccine For Mass Rollout, Inoculation Begins Next Week

Read: Pfizer, Moderna, Oxford, Sputnik V: As Covid Vaccines Publish Results, Here's What We Know