UK approves use of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine

Dec 2, 2020

The United Kingdom becomes the first country to approve Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for widespread use. The vaccine, which offers up to 95 per cent protection against COVID-19 will roll out next week in the UK.

Pfizer is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation and BioNTech is an immunotherapy company pioneering novel therapies for cancer and other serious diseases.

The UK has already ordered 40 million doses which will be enough to vaccinate 20 million people. The vaccine was developed in around 10 months, a process that normally takes a decade.

So far, the coronavirus infected more than 63 million people and killed almost 1.5 million people. The US is the hardest hit nation with more than 13 million cases.

Pema Seldon Tshering