With the development of COVID-19 vaccine candidates nearing their completion, countries all over the world are now implementing their own vaccine approval procedures. Necessary augmentations have been applied to their regular validation measures to assure that effective vaccines can be distributed as soon as possible. Get to know how different nations are preparing for the vaccines that could signal a hopeful end to this pandemic.
The United Kingdom
On December 2nd, the United Kingodm made the unprecedented move of becoming the first Western nation to approve a COVID-19 vaccine for general use. In what was coined as a “historic moment in the fight against COVID-19,” the Pfizer vaccine was cleared after the UK implemented a “rolling review” process which started on June. The process had teams of scientists perform parallel safety assesments around the clock to validate every aspect of the vaccine. The country’s National Health Service will commence the first batch of 800,000 doses to their priority demographics early this week.
As the hardest hit country, the USA will require an expedient vaccine roll out. Two of the contenders (Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna) have requested for emergency use authorization (EUA) from the US FDA. Unlike the UK, the US FDA requires an independent committee to advise on the vaccines’ proficiency. The committee is set to meet on December 10 and 17 wherein they will discuss the EUA requests. Their findings after these assemblies will determine the timeline for the vaccine distribution.
Since the pandemic begun, the governement of China has already approved the emergency use of some vaccine candidates. These vaccines underwent the standard 3-staged clinical trials to verify that they fulfill the approved vaccine protection efficacy requirements. The vaccine production is also closely observed to make sure that the manufacturers can consistently produce effective vaccines. Through the approved emrgency use, Chinese citizens, ranging from state employees to international students, have been receiving vaccines since July.
Russia
The procedures for state registration of vaccines have been ordered to be simplified by President Vladimir Putin. The testing and trials for the country’s Sputnik V vaccine have begun last February with a large-scale testing on 40,000 volunteers. The results of this trial has yet to be published. This week, the widescale vaccination at high-risk areas will commence. Its projected that the Russian public will be able to access the vaccines by early 2021.
As we wait for the vaccines to be validated and distributed globally, we must continue our detection and isolation efforts for the positive cases to conduct immediate treatment and minimize the virus’ reach. MEDTEK is an official distributor of equipment and devices for antibody, antigen and PCR testing. For accredited testing organizations and LGUs interested in purchasing this products, please feel free to fill out the form below.
