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MHRA approves Pfizer jab for use in UK

615 replies

AuntieStella · 02/12/2020 07:05

News just breaking on BBC

OP posts:
Jaxhog · 02/12/2020 10:45

I can't wait! As a vulnerable person, I've barely been out of the house since March. This will be the very best Christmas present possible.

ForBlueSkies · 02/12/2020 10:46

I’m pleased.

But it’s never a good thing to be the first to approve something like this. It means your public institutions are not being as careful and diligent in sifting through the data as other countries. 😑

CuriousaboutSamphire · 02/12/2020 10:46

@Chumleymouse

So it’s a case of , great we have a vaccine, but no idea how long it will last ? Mmmmm 🙄
I give in!

This is the song
The bucket of water song

Chumleymouse · 02/12/2020 10:51

The problem is people will have the vaccine and think I’m safe and off they go about their normal life but really its run out after x amount of time and they are vulnerable and could carrying the virus and passing it on .

Chumleymouse · 02/12/2020 10:52

It seems to be a good question that nobody can answer.

CuriousaboutSamphire · 02/12/2020 10:54

And has been the question about every vaccine ever invented!

mantlepiece · 02/12/2020 11:00

I see a number of people on here talking about making a decision to have the vaccine if they are pregnant.

In the guidelines it says the vaccine should not be given to pregnant women. So no decision to be made. Even if you want it you will be declined.

DuncinToffee · 02/12/2020 11:06

@Chumleymouse

It seems to be a good question that nobody can answer.
It has been answered, here for example from the BBC news website

Will it offer lasting protection?
It is impossible to know and we will find out only by waiting.
If immunity does not last then it may be necessary to have annual vaccines, as we do for flu.

Frequentflier · 02/12/2020 11:08

@Chumleymouse

The problem is people will have the vaccine and think I’m safe and off they go about their normal life but really its run out after x amount of time and they are vulnerable and could carrying the virus and passing it on .
I have got typhoid and tetanus vaccines, which I retake every few years. I have a vaccination card which I also update. If I get the COVID vaccine, I will take it every year, same as I do the flu vaccine. This isn't rocket science and the public can easily be educated to do this.
lovelemoncurd · 02/12/2020 11:11

Watch BBC news now. Approval agency talking.

AgnesNaismith · 02/12/2020 11:16

AgnesNaismith
I guess the rest of us (of working age) will stay inside for the next year then.
And all us extremely clinically vulnerable people will be swanning around like fucking superheroes. I'll do your shopping for you if you like? I haven't been in a shop for almost a year - seriously, I'll do anyone's shopping for them.

I take your point...but I’ve been in lockdown all year too due to DH being vulnerable.

JassyRadlett · 02/12/2020 11:16

We're just first, that's all. Everyone else will do so probably within the week

FDA meeting is on the 10th, so one to watch.

lovelemoncurd · 02/12/2020 11:23

Some immunity after 1st dose total immunity 7 days after 2nd dose

laudemio · 02/12/2020 11:23

This is such good news, I feel quite tearful

Belladonna12 · 02/12/2020 11:33

What we are seeing with the vaccine is different because totally healthy people at very low risk from COVID (again, that's MOST people) are being asked to do the same thing.

The people at very low risk aren't being asked to do anything unless they are healthcare professionals or care home workers. The vaccine won't even be available to other low risk people for many months. By that point, they may have already caught it given how infectious Covid is so let's hope you are right about being low risk.

PancakesandCoffee · 02/12/2020 11:40

@ForBlueSkies

I’m pleased.

But it’s never a good thing to be the first to approve something like this. It means your public institutions are not being as careful and diligent in sifting through the data as other countries. 😑

I don't agree. I'm not saying I'm not a little bit wary, as well as happy with the news, but the fact we have approved it first, doesn't automatically indicate that we haven't been as diligent. It could just indicate that the MHRA are a cut above other health regulators.

Somewhere has to approve first.

Belladonna12 · 02/12/2020 11:42

But it’s never a good thing to be the first to approve something like this. It means your public institutions are not being as careful and diligent in sifting through the data as other countries.

Not true at all. Other regulatory bodies will give approval very shortly afterwards.

Phyzzy · 02/12/2020 11:44

I wonder why all the ant vaxxers are so keen to persuade others not to have it? What have they to gain from that?

MarshaBradyo · 02/12/2020 11:44

@Belladonna12

But it’s never a good thing to be the first to approve something like this. It means your public institutions are not being as careful and diligent in sifting through the data as other countries.

Not true at all. Other regulatory bodies will give approval very shortly afterwards.

Exactly, above is not correct.

MHRA had a good rolling review system set up. People are searching for the negative.

Parker231 · 02/12/2020 11:45

There is no evidence that approval has been rushed. It’s an independent body.

To say they have been less diligent is ridiculous and ill informed. Comments like that spread silly rumours.

Kazzyhoward · 02/12/2020 11:45

@TheKeatingFive

I imagine there’ll be a reasonable amount of peer pressure in the nhs for workers to get it.
I also imagine that when the NHS returns to "normal" with visitors in the wards, people accompanying others for appointments, full waiting rooms, clinics returning to "normal" levels of patients each session, etc., they'll want to have the vaccine. At the moment, many staff are working in their own little safe "bubble" with few patients, even fewer visitors/companions, reduced treatments etc which simply won't last much longer.
Kazzyhoward · 02/12/2020 11:46

@Belladonna12

But it’s never a good thing to be the first to approve something like this. It means your public institutions are not being as careful and diligent in sifting through the data as other countries.

Not true at all. Other regulatory bodies will give approval very shortly afterwards.

Exactly, all the people saying the approval has been rushed in the UK will feel pretty stupid in a few weeks' time when the exact same vaccines are approved in other countries!
Belladonna12 · 02/12/2020 11:46

I don't agree. I'm not saying I'm not a little bit wary, as well as happy with the news, but the fact we have approved it first, doesn't automatically indicate that we haven't been as diligent. It could just indicate that the MHRA are a cut above other health regulators.

Yes, they could have more people capable of reviewing the data so they have been able to do it more quickly . The European Medicines Agency was based in London until about a year ago (moved to the Netherlands thanks to Brexit) but a lot of their staff are still here, perhaps working for the MHRA.

Kazzyhoward · 02/12/2020 11:56

@Chumleymouse

The problem is people will have the vaccine and think I’m safe and off they go about their normal life but really its run out after x amount of time and they are vulnerable and could carrying the virus and passing it on .
You can say that about anything, such as norovirus, flu, etc. Covid will never be eradicated. It's ALL about keeping the infection rates low and controlling outbreaks. That's exactly why norovirus keeps spreading through hospital wards, all inclusive hotels and cruise ships. It's basically luck of the draw whether it's spreading at the same time you're in one of those places.

Vulnerable people make their own choices and take their own precautions. My OH has seriously impaired immunity due to cancer. A couple of years ago, we went on a cruise. We wiped down all surfaces in our cabin with anti-bac and never had the cleaners/steward in the cabin at all, so we kept it "sterile" to our standards. We avoided any busy areas of the ship - went to the quieter time shows, avoided the breakfast buffet herds of people, and were constantly washing our hands (we carried our hand gels with us). We basically did everything reasonably possible to avoid catching norovirus (or anything similar), balanced by actually wanting to have a cruise. That's the reality of people with compromised immunity systems - everything you do is a risk and you learn to mitigate that by taking more precautions.

After covid, hopefully it will be "the norm" for most people (at risk or not) to maintain pretty simple/basic hygiene standards such as regular hand washing, respecting personal space, catching coughs/sneezes in tissues, etc. It's a shame we needed a pandemic to highlight the importance of basics like that. And a bigger shame if people go back to their old unhygienic ways.

LadyBishyBarnaby · 02/12/2020 11:57

The EMA do not actually assess licence applications themselves but use assessors from the national agencies - almost like subcontracting. This means that the assessors at the MHRA will previously have assessed applications on behalf of the EMA (as well as some “nationals” just for the UK market) but now, with Brexit, are just assessing them for the UK. The MHRA assessors will have been working long hours to get this through, hence the fast approval - although their reward, as civil servants, will be a government pay freeze next year, when the drug company employees will likely receive large bonuses.