What’s happening with the moderna vaccine in the UK?

[notevenat20]

It looks like the moderna vaccine will be approved very soon in the US. Europe will decide on January 6. But I can’t find any information and when the UK will decide.

I think they don’t mention it much due to the fact that the government haven’t ordered many doses if this vaccine, 5 million I believe. Last time I heard anything mentioned was Chris Whitty saying hopefully it will get approval in January.

I think our order for that is not due until the Spring, so I guess it's behind Oxford in the assessment queue.

If the EMA approves it, I can't see that the UK MHRA won't follow immediately.

If the EMA were to approve it before the end of the year, it would be approved for the UK too. But after 1 Jan that won't be the case and the UK will have to approve it itself.

I think our order for that is not due until the Spring

Oh, that sounds like a crucial fact. Do you have reference for that?

@notevenat20

I think our order for that is not due until the Spring

Oh, that sounds like a crucial fact. Do you have reference for that?

It’s on the government website

www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-government-secures-additional-2-million-doses-of-moderna-covid-19-vaccine

Yep we’re getting our Moderna delivery in spring, so it won’t be useful to us until then. USA will take the majority of doses before then.

The moderna is significantly more expensive than pfizer

Does the moderna vaccine have the same temperature issues as the Pfizer one?

I don’t know much at all about the moderna one at all.

"UK government has now secured 7 million doses of Moderna vaccine, which will be available in Europe as early as spring 2021"

"If it is approved, 7 million doses could start to be delivered to the UK as early as spring 2021 -"

That does make it sound like the US is going to grab it first.

Does the moderna vaccine have the same temperature issues as the Pfizer one?

"Moderna has said that its vaccine needs to be frozen too, but only at minus 20 Celsius, more like a regular freezer."

Yes we’ve bought it but it isn’t due to arrive until about March so I’m assuming that the vaccine regulators have prioritised working on making the decisions about Pfizer and Astra Zeneca where the vaccine is ready to ship to us and the regulators’ decision process is the bottleneck.

The US are first in line for Moderna which is why the FDA are prioritising work on it.

Of course the USA will grab it first, it’s their vaccine and Trump was quite clear that they would hoard everything rather than let the rest of the world get anything. He refused to sign the Covax agreement too.

To be fair, we ordered it late ( not complaining about this, I thought the UK vaccine planning was pretty good) so were not at the front of the queue.

@Mousehole10

Of course the USA will grab it first, it’s their vaccine and Trump was quite clear that they would hoard everything rather than let the rest of the world get anything. He refused to sign the Covax agreement too.

The US currently needs it more than most countries.

@notevenat20 thanks for that

So it’s somewhere in between Pfizer and AstraZeneca in terms of how easy it would be to distribute?

There's also the Russion Sputnik vaccine. DH, a scientist, says that the mocking it received from the west was unjustified. He thinks the Russian scientist are pretty sharp on this kind of thing and the only genuine concern was the speed and whether it had been tested properly. He also told me that the UK scientists are now looking at combining Sputnik and the Oxford vaccine to increase effectiveness as they're similar vaccines.

There is also the Chinese vaccine which is being given to people in the UAE as we speak. The news here talks as if these vaccines don't exist.

Have either of these vaccines even been through phase 3 trials? There are several vaccines in phase three trials that barely get a mention because they won't be ready any time soon.

Have either of these vaccines even been through phase 3 trials? There are several vaccines in phase three trials that barely get a mention because they won't be ready any time soon.

The crucial difference is that the Chinese vaccine at least is currently being given to huge numbers of people outside a trial. I guess none of the vaccines has actually completed their phase 3 trial. We are just giving emergency authorisation based on what we consider as enough evidence to pfizer annd probably the oxford vaccine.

@notevenat20
Widespread use in the general population in a country that claims to have essentially eradicated the virus might be able to prove safety (although as it would rely on Chinese state data even this is unlikely) but it certainly couldn't prove effectiveness.

Widespread use in the general population in a country that claims to have essentially eradicated the virus might be able to prove safety (although as it would rely on Chinese state data even this is unlikely) but it certainly couldn't prove effectiveness.

No not in China. In the UAE.

Sorry... it has also been given to more than a million people in China. I just find it interesting that this has been spread to the UAE.

@notevenat20

Have either of these vaccines even been through phase 3 trials? There are several vaccines in phase three trials that barely get a mention because they won't be ready any time soon.

The crucial difference is that the Chinese vaccine at least is currently being given to huge numbers of people outside a trial. I guess none of the vaccines has actually completed their phase 3 trial. We are just giving emergency authorisation based on what we consider as enough evidence to pfizer annd probably the oxford vaccine.

Just giving it to a load of people is no substitute for a properly conducted clinical trial.

Just giving it to a load of people is no substitute for a properly conducted clinical trial.

Absolutely.