UK prime minister Boris Johnson has said it is “excellent news” that a third coronavirus vaccine has been approved for use in the UK.
The jab, from US biotech firm Moderna, has been given the green light by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), joining the vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca.
The Moderna jab has been shown to be 94 per cent effective against Covid-19 and should be available in the UK from spring.
Earlier this week, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) also approved the Moderna vaccine, making it the second jab to receive approval from roll-out in the EU.
The UK government has increased its order of the vaccine to 17 million doses – enough to vaccinate 8.5 million people – with batches expected to be released in phases.
Mr Johnson tweeted: “Excellent news the @MHRAgovuk has approved the use of the @moderna_tx vaccine.
“Our national vaccine effort is accelerating to vaccinate priority groups with our existing two vaccines, and the Moderna doses will add to that when they become available in spring.”
Health secretary Matt Hancock tweeted: “This is fantastic news and another weapon in our arsenal to tame this awful disease.”
Nearly 1.5 million people in the UK have already been vaccinated with the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccines, with the government aiming to jab 15 million of those most at risk by mid-February.
The news comes as London mayor Sadiq Khan declared a 'major incident' as the spread of coronavirus threatens to “overwhelm” the capital’s hospitals.
City Hall said Covid-19 cases in London had exceeded 1,000 per 100,000, while there are 35 per cent more people in hospital with the virus than in the peak of the pandemic in April.
A “major incident” means the “severity of the consequences” associated with it are “likely to constrain or complicate the ability of responders to resource and manage the incident”.
Professor Kevin Fenton, Public Health England’s regional director for London, said: “This is the biggest threat our city has faced in this pandemic to date.
“The emergence of the new variant means we are setting record case rates at almost double the national average, with at least one in 30 people [in London] now thought to be carrying the virus.
“Our NHS services are under immense pressure and currently another 800 people are being admitted to our hospitals every day.”
Scientists advising the government believe the current lockdown may lead to a plateau of cases across the UK rather than the dramatic cut seen in the March and April lockdown.
They estimate there are currently more than 100,000 new infections per day and possibly higher than 150,000.
They believe this estimate puts the current number of daily cases at a higher level than during the first wave of the pandemic.
With the current lockdown and vaccine roll-out, deaths from coronavirus are expected to start dropping in February, while hospital admissions should drop after that.
Coronavirus cases are expected to drop in the spring due to vaccination plus the fact people spend more time outdoors, making it harder for the virus to spread.
