UK begins rollout of Moderna’s Covid vaccine
The Moderna vaccine has become the third Covid jab to join the UK’s jab portfolio, with the first doses being given to carers in Wales today.
The vaccine received emergency approval from the UK’s medicines regulator in January, when it was deemed safe and effective.
Supplies arrived in Wales this morning, with 5,000 doses sent to Hywel Dda University Health Board vaccination centres to be administered at Carmarthen’s Glangwili Hospital.
The doses were manufactured in Switzerland and Spain before being delivered to Britain, despite the EU’s threat to block the export of vaccines.
The UK has ordered 17m doses of the Moderna vaccine, which functions in a similar way to the Pfizer/Biontech jab.
It works by injecting part of the virus’s genetic code into the body, where it enters cells and tells them to create antigens. The antigens are recognised by the immune system and prepare it to fight coronavirus.
The number of doses administered will increase significantly in May and June in an attempt to plug an expected shortfall in supplies of the UK’s other two vaccines over the next few months.
It comes as the number of first Covid vaccine doses administered fell to 40,744 yesterday, down from a record of 752,308 two weeks ago.
It is understood that the Astrazeneca and Pfizer vaccines will be prioritised for providing second doses over the next few weeks, with the Moderna jab reserved for first doses.
Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said doses of the Moderna jab could be reserved for young people, if the UK’s medicines regulator decides to pause the rollout of the Astrazeneca version in that age group.
Use of the Astrazeneca jab has been paused for children while the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) group investigates the potential link to blood clots.
Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi insisted that the government will meet its targets of offering the vaccine to all over-50s by mid-April and all adults by the end of July.
“It will be in deployment around the third week of April in the NHS and we will get more volume in May as well. And of course more volume of Pfizer and Astrazeneca and we have got other vaccines,” he told the BBC this morning.