Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine authorised for use in the UK
Following rigorous clinical trials involving thousands of people and extensive analysis of the vaccine’s safety, quality and effectiveness by experts from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine has been authorised for use in the UK on 2nd December 2020.
The NHS is currently offering the COVID-19 vaccine to people most at risk from coronavirus.
At this time, the vaccine is being offered in some hospitals to:
- some people aged 80 and over who already have a hospital appointment in the next few weeks
- people who work in care homes
- health care workers at high risk
The vaccine will be offered more widely, and at other locations, as soon as possible.
The order in which people will be offered the vaccine is based on advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). For more information or advice on priority groups, visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/priority-groups-for-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-advice-from-the-jcvi-2-december-2020/priority-groups-for-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-advice-from-the-jcvi-2-december-2020
People are asked not to contact hospitals and ask for the vaccine. Hospitals and other NHS services will contact eligible people when it is their turn to be vaccinated. People most vulnerable to coronavirus will be vaccinated first.