Britain's Department of Health said on Sunday that medicines regulator Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) must be given time to carry out its review of the data of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. The government hopes to give the first dose of either the Oxford vaccine, which has been licensed to pharmaceuticals company AstraZeneca, or the Pfizer vaccine to 2 million people over the next two weeks, the newspaper said. The Oxford vaccine is expected to be approved by medical regulators in days, the newspaper said. With preparations underway for a possible vaccine-rollout by January, the Indian drug regulator is looking at the UK, which sources believe may give its nod to the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine next week, before deciding on giving emergency use authorisation to the Serum Institute that is manufacturing the shots here. Countries including France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Portugal and Spain are planning to begin mass vaccinations, starting with health workers on Sunday.

Source: Mint December 27, 2020 01:41 UTC