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Britain gets sixth COVID shot after French firm Valneva approval
The Euronews reported, citing Reuters, Britain approved on Thursday (Apr 14) French firm Valneva’s COVID-19 vaccine, bringing in a sixth coronavirus shot to the country.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, UK’s independent medicines regulator, said the watchdog was the first in the world to approve Valneva’s vaccine.
It added that the vaccine was also the first, whole-virus inactivated COVID-19 shot to get a regulatory nod in the country.
On Tuesday (Apr 12), the UK health ministry said that the country will expand access to Pfizer’s oral antiviral COVID-19 treatment to thousands more people by adding it to a trial to assess how best to use the drug in its highly vaccinated population.
Health minister Sajid Javid said in a statement: “As we learn to live with COVID, the UK continues to lead the way in using cutting-edge treatments which have already saved the lives of many of the country’s most vulnerable patients."
Covid-19 infections in the UK may be beginning to level off, the latest weekly Office for National Statistics figures suggest, the BBC reported.
According to the BBC, more than 170,000 people have died in the UK since the outbreak of the virus.
Britain widens access to Pfizer’s oral antiviral COVID treatment through trial
It said that Covid vaccination programme has so far reached nine in 10 people aged 12 and over with a first dose.
levantnews, agencies
