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Covid-19: the vaccine was quickly authorized in the United Kingdom thanks to Brexit, ensures London

2020-12-03T06:49:23.082Z


The British Minister of Health claims to have freed himself from the constraints of the European Medicines Agency.


A vaccine that becomes a political argument.

The British government assured Wednesday that Brexit had allowed the United Kingdom to be the first Western country to authorize a vaccine against Covid-19, a qualified assertion by the national drug regulator after its green light to the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine .

“While until earlier this year we were in the European Medicines Agency, thanks to Brexit we were able to make a decision […] based on the British regulator, a world-class regulator, and not at the pace of the Europeans , which are moving a little more slowly, ”said Health Minister Matt Hancock.

"We all do the same security checks and follow the same procedures, but we have been able to speed up the way they are done thanks to Brexit," he added.

A "continuous" evaluation across the Channel

The United Kingdom left the European Union on January 31, but remains subject to European rules, including pharmaceutical legislation, during a transition period ending at the end of the year.

Due to Brexit, the European Medicines Agency, responsible for authorizing and controlling medicines in the EU, moved from London to Amsterdam in March 2019 with its 900 employees.

"We were able to announce the provision of this vaccine under clauses in EU law that exist until January 1," said June Raine, director of the UK Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA ), after giving the green light to the vaccine from the German-American alliance Pfizer / BioNTech, which is 95% effective.

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“Our speed or our progress relied entirely on the data available in our continuous assessment,” she added, emphasizing the thoroughness of the process.

Tensions over vaccine delivery

On Twitter, Enterprise Minister Alok Sharma praised the UK as “the first country” to sign an agreement with Pfizer / BioNTech and distribute their vaccine.

"In the years to come, we will remember that moment as the day the UK led the charge of humanity against this disease," he insisted.

Why is it so difficult to recognize this important step forward as a great international effort and success.

I really don't think this is a national story.

In spite of the German company BioNTech having made a crucial contribution this is European and transatlantic.

https://t.co/SE4XDG4P0o

- Andreas Michaelis (@GermanAmbUK) December 2, 2020

This triumphant statement went wrong with Andreas Michaelis, the German Ambassador to the UK: “Why is it so difficult to recognize this important step forward as a great success and international effort?

"

Relations between London and Europeans are going through a very delicate moment.

They are engaged in intense negotiations to try to define their new commercial relationship from January 1.

In the event of failure or disruption at the border, the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, made in Belgium, can be shipped by plane, Matt Hancock said Thursday on the BBC.

READ ALSO>

Extracting a post-Brexit agreement from Boris Johnson, Michel Barnier's impossible mission?


Pfizer / BioNTech has applied for conditional authorization of its vaccine against Covid-19 in the EU with the European Medicines Agency, which has given itself until December 29 "at the latest" to give, or not, its green light.

Source: leparis

All news articles on 2020-12-03

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