MHRA approves Pfizer jab for use in UK

[AuntieStella]

News just breaking on BBC

purplefig were you going to explain who it is at the MHRA you believe is corrupt, as you insinuated up thread?

@purplefig

Oh that’s interesting - the bbc were saying this type of vaccine has never been used outside of trials.

I'm not sure it you're answerig my point but the previous vacinnes weren't needed as sars and mers died out before it got that far. All vacinnes have to start from scratch, that's not a reason not to introduce new ones.

Your comparison with the 1976 swine flu vaccine might be valid if we were in say 1980 but it's a little disingenuous to suggest that nothing has moved on in over 40 years

The MHRA is highly respected and vigorous in practice.
There will always people who think they know better than scientists/drs/researchers.

Why are the UK the only place to have approved it?
In part because our system has been altered to be more flexible and responsive rather than waiting for a scheduled FDA meeting on December 10.

Like some others on here, brilliant news to wake up to this morning, made me think of all the ICU CV patients I have looked after during the 1st wave & currently during this 2nd wave, especially those who we battled to save but lost who will never know that progress has reached the point that their families and loved ones will 🤞live in a CV free future. 👏to all scientists involved.

[quote purplefig]@MarshaBradyo but we’ve approved it and they haven’t.[/quote]
Well if you want to base your decision on that go for it. MRHA has a solid process.

What about other question. Do you prefer a future without this way out?

[quote Itsthewinenotthelabel]@MrsMichaelPalin

Desperation

Comments like this will be what makes people not have the vaccine. 🙄[/quote]
Yep.

I think some don’t want this to end.

[quote purplefig]@satnighttakeaway that’s interesting - but this isn’t just a new vaccine, it’s a brand new TYPE of vaccine which is what concerns me.[/quote]
In what way is it so different (this is a genuine question, not a snarky one) that we should be concerned?

[quote Marks2]@satnighttakeaway The Pfizer vaccine is a new type of vaccine. They have been developing the technology for a while but this is the first one to be trialled in such large numbers so we can’t know the long term consequences. As I said before long term consequences are rare in any vaccine but still a possibility. The Oxford vaccine is based on spike protein- it is closer to vaccines we already use in a way (still different but closer in a way). The work on both of these types had been started before the pandemic but this is the first time large scale trials have been done with this technology.[/quote]
Yes, this is as I understand it. We have been able to do large-scale trials quickly because we've been in the middle of a pandemic.

Nothing is 0% risk in life. Long-term consequences of vaccines are very rare indeed.

Most people who "won't have the vaccine" don't understand anything about scientific trials and funding for research, data analysis, vaccine development or risk assessment. Meh.

While I agree this mornings news is positive, I am concerned that people will now let their guard down. I really hope the vaccine(s)pave the way for less restrictions, but those hoping that life will return to how it was pre- Covid are going to be disappointed. personally I won’t be getting the vaccine anytime soon, I’m not a priority and I’m happy about that. Also as a person of colour I am concerned about possible side affects. I will have to do more research on the the affects of the vaccines in BAME communities before making my decision.

I am extremely grateful not only to the minds of the worldwide scientific community in vaccine development, but all those thousands of people who have offered themselves up as "guinea pigs" in the trials.

“There’ll never be a vaccine”
“Okay there will, but it won’t be for 5-10 years”
“Okay it’ll be faster, but it won’t be very effective”
“Okay it’ll be very effective but the regulators won’t approve it”
“Okay it’ll be fast, effective and the regulators will approve it, but we won’t have any supplies to start vaccinating people”
“Okay it’ll be fast, effective, approved by regulators, and we’ll be ready to go with the vaccination programme but oooh, I don’t know, I think we should wait a good long time more before we do anything...”

Nope, we’re fed up of the pandemic now, we’re getting out of it. Sorry to all those who will dearly miss lockdown but the rest of us don’t want to stay here with you.

Anyone know why the EU approval is so much further behind? As a 100% Remainer, I'm worried I might have to admit that there may be truth to the whole 'too much red tape' argument of the Leavers campaign.

NoSquirrels can you provide some links that explain more about the differences please? I'd like to be able to fully understand this.

@JassyRadlett

Why are the UK the only place to have approved it? In part because our system has been altered to be more flexible and responsive rather than waiting for a scheduled FDA meeting on December 10.

More flexible and responsive than anywhere else in the world? goes against every other aspect of the this country operates.

If other countries quickly follow suite then fair enough, but if we remain the only country to approve then i think its reasonable to question why, esp as the MHRA and EU authorities are supposed to be pretty much the same.

@pinkearedcow

NoSquirrels can you provide some links that explain more about the differences please? I'd like to be able to fully understand this.

Differences between the Pfizer vaccine trials and the Oxford vaccine trials?

You’ve been lucky up until now, then - some hospitals and departments have had up to 20% of staff off either sick or self-isolating at any one time. So if only one of your team has had it, the other 49 could be susceptible.

Probably because they work with adults and Covid patients. We don’t.

If the other 49 of us are so susceptible, then I imagine we’d have seen a case in the last 9 months.

Across the whole paediatric unit, of which there are 4 wards and a paediatric A&E, consisting of about 250-300 staff in total, we’ve had absolutely minimal numbers of staff being off sick with Covid. Maybe 10 at most. We also have God knows how many doctors that work throughout the unit and only 2 have been off ill with Covid.

So much catastrophising.

@GoldenOmber

“There’ll never be a vaccine” “Okay there will, but it won’t be for 5-10 years” “Okay it’ll be faster, but it won’t be very effective” “Okay it’ll be very effective but the regulators won’t approve it” “Okay it’ll be fast, effective and the regulators will approve it, but we won’t have any supplies to start vaccinating people” “Okay it’ll be fast, effective, approved by regulators, and we’ll be ready to go with the vaccination programme but oooh, I don’t know, I think we should wait a good long time more before we do anything...”

Nope, we’re fed up of the pandemic now, we’re getting out of it. Sorry to all those who will dearly miss lockdown but the rest of us don’t want to stay here with you.

This. Why are so many people insisting on seeing the negatives? Yes, everyone needs to make an informed choice and weigh up the risks, but this is great news.

[quote purplefig]And to those saying that it’s crazy to suggest there could be side effects, have you read much on the 1976 swine flu response?

Good overview here: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_swine_flu_outbreak[/quote]
A wiki quote?

Enough with the NZ stuff. Irrelevant. I’m with GoldenOmber people want to wallow in the mire in lockdown go for it.

As Sir John Bell said when asked what if people don’t want it? Good luck to them.

@pinkearedcow Here's a good BBC explainer (scroll down for the differences in the vaccines).
www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55040635

[The Oxford vaccine] uses a completely different approach to the vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, which inject part of the virus's genetic code into patients.

The Oxford vaccine is a genetically modified common cold virus that used to infect chimpanzees.

It has been altered to stop it causing an infection in people and to carry the blueprints for part of the coronavirus, known as the spike protein.

Once these blueprints are inside the body they start producing the coronavirus' spike protein, which the immune system recognizes as a threat and tries to squash it.

I will take one in both arms please

@GoldenOmber

“There’ll never be a vaccine” “Okay there will, but it won’t be for 5-10 years” “Okay it’ll be faster, but it won’t be very effective” “Okay it’ll be very effective but the regulators won’t approve it” “Okay it’ll be fast, effective and the regulators will approve it, but we won’t have any supplies to start vaccinating people” “Okay it’ll be fast, effective, approved by regulators, and we’ll be ready to go with the vaccination programme but oooh, I don’t know, I think we should wait a good long time more before we do anything...”

Nope, we’re fed up of the pandemic now, we’re getting out of it. Sorry to all those who will dearly miss lockdown but the rest of us don’t want to stay here with you.

This times a billion. Sorry folks, we're out of here. Switch the lights off when you're finished.

@GoldenOmber

purplefig were you going to explain who it is at the MHRA you believe is corrupt, as you insinuated up thread?

I said they had competing interests and they do.

You can see for yourself here: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/923909/2020-21__Declarations_of_Interest_Board_members__v011020.pdf

Some even have shares in AstraZeneca.