The United Kingdom has approved the Oxford University/AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine for use.
This approval means that more vaccine supplies would be made available to inoculate its population.
Governor Martyn Roper welcomed the approval, hailing it as “excellent news”, and adding that Cayman is set to receive enough doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on 5 Jan. to inoculate 5,000 people on island.
On Wednesday, the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency authorised the Oxford University/AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, which UK Health Minister Matt Hancock has termed a “British vaccine” because of its creators.
“This is a game-changer and offers hope to the world. A great result for British science,” Roper said in a post on his official Facebook page.
The UK, he said, has committed to supplying vaccines to the British Overseas Territories.
“We are still expecting our first supplies on the BA flight on 5 January and enough vaccines initially for 5,000 people on our Islands. That will be the two-dose Pfizer vaccine and discussions are underway on future supplies,” he said.
He added, “While we are fortunate to be largely Covid free (apart from a small number of returning travellers), the virus and a dangerous new strain continue to rage around us. We need to continue to exercise the utmost caution. Approval of this new vaccine, and other vaccines, is our way out of this pandemic.”
Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Lee confirmed the arrival date of the Pfizer vaccines on the final 2020 episode of Cayman Compass’s The Resh Hour, saying he expected a “good quantity of doses” of the vaccine in the first delivery.
There will be “several thousand doses… so we’ll be able to have a good go at our priority groups,” Lee said, but added, “It is very likely we will not be able to reach everybody that we plan to reach… with that first tranche of vaccines, and we may have to do a cutoff as far as age is concerned.”
Both Lee and Roper, together with Premier Alden McLaughlin, will be among the first to take the jab next week, in a bid to encourage people to get vaccinated.
Roper, in his statement, said the UK has ordered enough of the Oxford vaccine for 50 million people – or 100 million doses. Like the Pfizer one, the new vaccine will require a second dose, but will be administered four to 12 weeks after the first. The second dose is administered 21 days after the first jab with Pfizer.
The governor said roll-out of the Oxford vaccine will start on Monday, 4 Jan., in the UK, with aim to vaccinate two million people a week.
“[It is] much easier to deliver and transport as [it] does not need cold storage,” he said. “One dose will be given to as many people as possible, giving 70-80% immunity and a booster 12 weeks later to give longer-term immunity (how long not known yet).”
The approval of the vaccine came hours before Hancock announced that UK residents will be moving to increased restrictions as the country struggles to get the virus under control.
On Tuesday, the UK recorded 53,135 new COVID cases – the highest single-day positive results since mass testing began.
Even with cases of a new variant of COVID-19 on the rise, health officials have assured the vaccines are expected to be effective.
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Reshma… No news on the shipment of the Astrazeneca Vacine to Cayman? It has been rolled out in the UK and there is no timetable for more of the Pfizer vaccine. Government expects “by the end of the month” for Pfizer!! One could suspect that the UK is wanting Cayman to stretch the supply and give one dose to 10,000 people and then apply the booster second dose at 12 weeks like the UK…use the second batch to inoculate another 10,000 new arms in February.. and then give them their second dose in March, rolling supplies.