The UK National Health Service has pushed back the window for people to receive the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech – to the extent that the companies have only tested a small percentage of patients.
The NHS wrote a letter to hospitals saying those expecting a second dose after January 4 should be rescheduled from three weeks to 12, with the majority of recipients on the order in the last week of that period. The move would bring the window closer to the time for the direct vaccine vaccine provided by Oxford University and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca AZN,
Read: The UK now has the vaccine ‘to cover the whole population’ after being approved by the AstraZeneca vaccine – Oxford COVID-19
The NHS said the move would protect the greatest number of people at risk in the shortest time and would have the greatest impact on mortality.
Confirmed cases of coronavirus have spiked over the past month, with the UK saying it is easier to deliver a new strain of the virus that causes COVID-19. Daily affairs have climbed from 12,330 at the end of November to 50,023 at 30 December.
When the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency gave its emergency approval to the vaccine from US drug company Pfizer PFE,
and German partner BNTX,
they stated that the interval between doses must be at least three weeks, and based on analyzes involving patients who received their second vaccine within 19 to 42 days after the first their vaccine.
Pfizer said the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine had not been tested at the new time. “The Pfizer and BioNTech Phase 3 study for the COVID-19 vaccine was designed to assess the safety and efficacy of the vaccine following a 2-dose, 21-day spread. The safety and efficacy of the vaccine were not evaluated on different dosing schedules as the majority of trial participants received a second dose within the window specified in the study design, ”Said the company.
Pfizer also noted that there is no data to show that protection is maintained after 21 days of receiving the first dose.
“While decisions about other dosing regimes remain with health authorities, Pfizer believes it is vital that health authorities make critical efforts to review any other records that are implemented and to ensure that all recipients receive the greatest possible protection, which means a vaccine with two doses of the vaccine, ”said Pfizer. A message sent by BioNTech was not returned immediately.
In the preparatory document provided by the drug companies to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, they stated that about 80% of patients who received a second dose were given within 10 weeks of receiving the first one. .