In a new regulation the European Commission states: "This is justified as a safeguard measure pursuant to Article 16 of that Protocol in order to avert serious societal difficulties due to a lack of supply threatening to disturb the orderly implementation of the vaccination campaigns in the Member States."
The Northern Ireland Protocol is a special deal to prevent the re-emergence of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
This is a politically explosive move by the European Commission.
Northern Ireland's unionist politicians have been agitating for the Article 16 emergency brake to be used to reduce checks and controls on goods crossing the new Irish Sea border.
Some of them see it as a pathway to unravelling the whole Northern Ireland Brexit deal.
The UK government told unionists they would be prepared to use Article 16 but made obvious they were nowhere near the threshold for doing so.
But now the Commission has undermined the government's 'Keep calm and carry on' approach.
Those parties who support the Northern Ireland deal have reacted with dismay.
'Aggressive and shameful'
Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove has spoken to European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic to express the UK's "concern over a lack of notification from the EU about its actions in relation to the NI protocol", said a Downing Street spokesman.
Mr Gove said the UK would be "carefully considering next steps".
An Irish government spokesman said Taoiseach (prime minister) Micheal Martin was currently in discussions with European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen to express Dublin's concerns.
The move should not directly disadvantage NI as it gets its vaccine supplies through the UK procurement system.
Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said Northern Ireland's vaccine procurement was carried out through the UK-wide process.
"The Govt has contracts with AstraZeneca & others to ensure vaccines are delivered on schedule & guarantee reliable vaccine provision across the whole of the UK," he tweeted.
Louise Haigh MP, Labour's Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, said the move was "deeply destabilising and undermines the huge efforts being made to make the Protocol work".
DUP leader Arlene Foster said the EU had placed a "hard border" between Northern Ireland the Republic of Ireland.
"By triggering Article 16 in this manner, the European Union has once again shown it is prepared to use Northern Ireland when it suits their interests but in the most despicable manner - over the provision of a vaccine which is designed to save lives," she said.
"At the first opportunity the EU has placed a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland over the supply chain of the Coronavirus vaccine.
Reuters
"With the European Union using Article 16 in such an aggressive and most shameful way, it is now time for our Government to step up.
"I will be urging the prime minister to act and use robust measures including Article 16 to advance the interests of Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom."
Ulster Unionist Party leader Steve Aiken said the UK government should now invoke Article 16 in response to the EU's actions.
Alliance Party leader Naomi Long said what was needed was "maximum co-operation" not "this obstructive behaviour" from the EU.
Meanwhile, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said the European Commission's decision to invoke Article 16 was "disproportionate".
Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol is a safeguard mechanism. Similar measures are often found in a variety of trade agreements.
It allows either the UK or the EU to take unilateral action if the application of the protocol leads to serious 'economic, societal or environmental difficulties' which are liable to persist.
It doesn't define what 'serious' means, but Article 16 is only meant to be used in an emergency. So, the fact that the EU has chosen to invoke it shows just how seriously it is taking its vaccine shortages.
But how will the UK respond? If Northern Ireland could become a backdoor for vaccines to be taken from the EU into the UK, couldn't the same point be argued the other way round?
The First Minister of Northern Ireland Arlene Foster clearly expects something to be done.
"I will be urging the Prime Minister to act," she says, "and use robust measures including Article 16 to advance the interests of Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom."
The intriguing thing is that Article 16 doesn't, of course, apply only to vaccines.
There have been plenty of people calling on the government to invoke Article 16 to help alleviate the trade problems that have arisen between Great Britain and Northern Ireland since the beginning of the year.
That's because Great Britain is now outside the EU single market, but Northern Ireland is still following many single market rules.
This latest development means the plot thickens even further.
Supply shortfall row
The vaccine producer AstraZeneca has been in dispute about the company's delivery commitments to the EU.
The bloc agreed to buy up to 400 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last year.
The firm said due to problems at one of its EU factories, supplies would be reduced by about 60% in the first quarter of 2021.
Reuters
The two sides have not found agreement on whether that constitutes a breach of contract.
The first dose of the vaccine has been administered to 196,131 people in Northern Ireland so far.
The European Commission has authorised AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine after EU regulators said it can be given to adults in all age groups - the third jab cleared for use in the bloc.
The advice from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) comes after questions were raised in Germany over how effective the AstraZeneca jab, developed with Oxford University, is in protecting older people due to a lack of data.
And it is understood the German government will not be giving the AstraZeneca shot to the over-65s.
Amid a high-profile row between the drug maker and the EU over supplies, the commission's president Ursula von der Leyen tweeted: "We have just authorised the @AstraZeneca vaccine on the EU market following a positive assessment by @EMA_News.
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"I expect the company to deliver the 400 million doses as agreed. We will keep on doing all we can to secure vaccines for Europeans, our neighbours & partners worldwide."
The EMA, which said the vaccine had an overall efficacy of around 60% in the trials, stated there were not yet enough results for people over the age of 55 to determine how well the vaccine would work for this group.
More from Covid-19
However it said protection was expected, given that an immune response is seen in this group - and the regulator ruled the vaccine can be given to older people.
Many countries on the continent have been struggling to vaccinate their populations as quickly as nations such as the UK.
There is currently a bitter wrangle between AstraZeneca and the EU over vaccine supply shortages in the bloc.
The European Commission has introduced measures to tighten rules on the exports of shots produced in the 27 EU countries.
The "vaccine export transparency mechanism'' will be used until the end of March to control vaccine shipments to non-EU countries - and to ensure any exporting company based in the EU first submits its plans to national authorities.
But the EU insisted the new measure is not an export ban - and the UK was not named among countries exempted from the plan.
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Questions over Oxford/AstraZeneca jab for 65+
The EU wants doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to be sent from British plants to solve its jab shortage issues, after member states were forced to pause or delay rollout.
And if vaccines made within the bloc are prevented from being exported in future it could damage the UK's access to further supplies, particularly to the Belgian-made Pfizer jab.
In the AstraZeneca trials, only 12% of those who took part were over 55 and they were enrolled later, so there has not been enough time to collate the results.
On Thursday, a draft recommendation from Germany's vaccination advisory committee said the AstraZeneca vaccine should currently only be given to people aged 18-64.
UK regulators acknowledged the limited data for older people with regard to the AstraZeneca vaccine when it cleared the jab last month for people over 18.
But Public Health England has said details on the immune response for those 65 and over had been "reassuring".
A separate study testing the AstraZeneca vaccine in the US is still under way.
The vaccine is administered via two injections into the arm, the second 4-12 weeks after the first.
The EMA has already authorised the Pfizer and Moderna jabs for all adults.
Brussels hit out at AstraZeneca after the drug giant said it would reduce initial deliveries from 80 million doses to 31 million, blaming production problems.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has said the contract contained binding orders and the bloc has raised the threat of legal action to secure COVID-19 stocks.
AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot said the company was working 24/7 to increase capacity to the EU, adding it had millions of doses ready to start being sent to the bloc.
He also said glitches and delays in the manufacturing of coronavirus vaccines were inevitable given the speed at which they have been developed, but he would not comment on the EU dispute over supplies.
EU drug regulators have announced AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine can be given to adults in all age groups - the third jab cleared for use in the bloc.
The advice from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) comes after questions were raised in Germany over how effective the AstraZeneca jab, developed with Oxford University, is in protecting older people.
And it is understood Germany will not be giving the AstraZeneca shot to the over-65s.
Many countries on the continent have been struggling to vaccinate their populations as quickly as nations such as the UK.
There is currently a bitter wrangle between AstraZeneca and the EU over vaccine supply shortages in the bloc.
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The European Commission has introduced measures to tighten rules on the exports of shots produced in the 27 EU countries.
The "vaccine export transparency mechanism'' will be used until the end of March to control vaccine shipments to non-EU countries - and to ensure any exporting company based in the EU first submits its plans to national authorities.
But the EU insisted the new measure is not an export ban - and the UK was not named among countries exempted from the plan.
The EU wants doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to be sent from British plants to solve its jab shortage issues, after member states were forced to pause or delay rollout.
And if vaccines made within the bloc are prevented from being exported it could damage the UK's access to further supplies, particularly to the Belgian-made Pfizer jab.
In the AstraZeneca trials, only 12% of those who took part were over 55 and they were enrolled later, so there has not been enough time to collate the results.
On Thursday, a draft recommendation from Germany's vaccination advisory committee said the AstraZeneca vaccine should currently only be given to people aged 18-64.
The EMA, which said the vaccine had an overall efficacy of around 60% in the trials, stated there were not yet enough results for people over the age of 55 to determine how well the vaccine would work for this group.
However it said protection was expected, given that an immune response is seen in this group - and it ruled the vaccine can be given to older people.
UK regulators acknowledged the limited data for older people with regard to the AstraZeneca vaccine when it cleared the jab last month for people over 18.
But Public Health England has said details on the immune response for those 65 and over had been "reassuring".
A separate study testing the AstraZeneca vaccine in the US is still under way.
The vaccine is administered via two injections into the arm, the second 4-12 weeks after the first.
The EMA has already authorised the Pfizer and Moderna jabs for all adults.
Brussels has hit out at AstraZeneca after the drug giant said it would reduce initial deliveries from 80 million doses to 31 million, blaming production problems.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has said the contract contained binding orders and the bloc has raised the threat of legal action to secure COVID-19 stocks.
Johnson & Johnson’s one shot coronavirus vaccine appears to be less strong as some two-shot rivals, with 66 percent overall effectiveness.
A fast-spreader COVID-19 strain detected in cities such as Manaus and Sao Paulo have thrown new challenges before authorities who have been accused of slow response.
On Friday, Novavax, a US-based company, announced its coronavirus vaccine appears to be 89 percent effective based on early findings from a British study, and that it also seems to work – though not as well – against new mutated versions of the virus circulating in the United Kingdom and South Africa.
Worldwide, the pandemic has killed more than two million people and infected nearly 101 million, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University.
Hello, this is Virginia Pietromarchi in Rome, Italy, and Usaid Siddiqui in Toronto, Canada, giving you the latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic:
Canada to quarantine travelers in hotels: sources
An official familiar with the matter says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will announce stricter restrictions on travelers response to new, likely more contagious variants of the novel coronavirus – including making it mandatory for travelers to quarantine in a hotel at their own expense when they arrive in Canada.
The official spoke to The Associated Press news agency on condition anonymity as they were not authorized to speak ahead of Friday’s planned announcement.
The engine of the US economy, consumer spending, stutters again
Business-sapping restrictions designed to contain spiralling COVID-19 infections slammed the brakes on the engine of the United States economy in December, as consumers kept their wallets snapped shut and hunkered down at home.
Consumer spending, which drives roughly two-thirds of US economic growth, fell by $27.9bn or 0.2 percent in December, marking the second straight month of decline, the US Department of Commerce said.
EU regulator authorises AstraZeneca vaccine for all adults
Regulators authorized AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for use in adults throughout the European Union, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population.
The European Medicines Agency licensed the vaccine to be used in people 18 and over, though concerns had been raised this week that not enough data exist to prove it works in older people.
The shot is the third COVID-19 vaccine given the greenlight by the European Medicines Agency, after ones made by Pfizer and Moderna. Both were authorised for all adults.
A health worker fills a syringe with a dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at the Appleton Village Pharmacy, amid the coronavirus disease outbreak, in Widnes, Britain [File: Jason Cairnduff/Reuters]
Bolivian doctors demand lockdown as virus overwhelms hospitals
Bolivian doctors are demanding a nationwide lockdown and threatening to stop taking in new patients as a surge in COVID-19 cases, which they say is killing an average of one medic per day, strains hospitals to breaking point.
New daily coronavirus infections in the Andean country, which received its first batch of Russian Sputnik V vaccines on Thursday, hit a single-day record of 2,866 this week and deaths attributed to the epidemic climbed above 10,000.
EU member state ambassadors approved a new map of coronavirus danger zones across the bloc, allowing authorities to impose stricter regional travel restrictions.
The European Commission remains opposed to a blanket travel ban or closures of national borders across the European Union, despite some members seeking tougher measures.
But Brussels does want to “strongly discourage non-essential travel” and the map from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control is part of that effort.
Catalan election to be held on Feb 14 after court annuls move to postpone it
Catalonia will elect its parliament on Feb.14, after a court annuled the regional government’s plan to move the vote to May 30 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The election is considered a litmus test for the Catalan separatist movement.
Spain has over 2.7 million coronavirus cases and nearly 58,000 deaths [File: Nacho Doce/Reuters]
J&J vaccine moderately effective, less against S. Africa variant
Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot Covid-19 vaccine has an overall efficacy of 66 percent, the company announced Friday, following results from a phase 3 trial of almost 44,000 people across many countries.
The figure however was as high as 72 percent in the United States but went down to 57 percent in South Africa, where a more transmissible variant is dominant.
The company added that the vaccine was 85 percent effective in preventing severe Covid-19 across all geographical regions.
South Korea has delayed until Sunday any easing of social distancing measures because outbreaks involving mission schools are threatening to undermine efforts to keep new infections under control ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays starting on February 12.
The number of cases linked to Christian schools nationwide grew further, reaching 344 infections in total in seven facilities.
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun cited experts who view the recent surge in cases as a sign of another massive wave of infections.
A health worker wearing a protective suit enjoys the falling snow at a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing site in Seoul, South Korea [Reuters]
Pfizer vaccine not linked to post-jab deaths: EU regulator
The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus jab has no link to reported post-vaccination deaths and no new side effects, said the EU’s medicines regulator.
The update by the Amsterdam-based European Medicines Agency (EMA) followed reports that dozens of mainly elderly people had died in Norway and other European countries after receiving a first shot of the vaccine.
The EMA said it had looked at the deaths and “concluded that the data did not show a link to vaccination with Comirnaty (the vaccine) and the cases do not raise a safety concern”.
Italy to get 20 percent fewer Moderna vaccines
The US drug company Moderna will deliver 20 percent fewer vaccines to Italy than promised, said Italy’s special commissioner for COVID-19.
“Minutes ago, Moderna told us about the cut in the distribution of its vaccines. In the week beginning February 7, only 132,000 doses will arrive, 20 percent less than agreed,” Domenico Arcuri said.
Italy, the country with the second-highest toll of COVID-19 deaths in Europe after the United Kingdom, is also grappling with delays in vaccine deliveries by Pfizer, to which Rome has already sent a formal warning letter.
Italy, the country with the second-highest toll of COVID-19 deaths in Europe after the UK, is also grappling with delays in vaccine deliveries by the Pfizer [Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters]“As of today, we are missing 300,000 vaccine doses. Every day there is worse news than the day before. Vaccines are not soft drinks or snacks, they are the only antidote to the dark night that has lasted a year,” Arcuri told a news conference, adding that decisions on deliveries were being taken unilaterally and without notice.
AstraZeneca agrees to publish contract signed with EU
Following repeated requests from the EU Commission, drug company AstraZeneca has agreed to publish the redacted contract signed with the EU, including details of invoices.
“Transparency and accountability are important to help build the trust of European citizens and to make sure that they can rely on the effectiveness and safety of the vaccines purchased at the EU level,” read a statement from the EU body.
The news comes amid a bitter dispute between the two parties triggered last week by the drug company’s announcement that it would cut supplies to the EU in the first quarter of this year, citing production issues. The commission now hopes to prove that the company had breached a commitment on vaccine deliveries.
Ukraine’s parliament approved a bill intended to speed up the approval of vaccines, while also banning approval of shots made in Russia.
The government has said it expects to receive 100,000 to 200,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine under the global COVAX scheme in February.
No vaccine has yet been approved in Ukraine but authorities have repeatedly said Kyiv will not approve or use vaccines from Russia, with which it is at loggerheads.
Dengvaxia controversy haunts Duterte’s vaccine roll out
Gene Nisperos is an associate professor at the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Medicine in the country’s capital, Manila. As a medical front-liner, he is on the priority list for vaccination against the coronavirus when the government releases its promised first vaccines next month.
But Nisperos has grave doubts about President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan. The medic is particularly critical of the government’s decision to disallow Filipinos from choosing the type of coronavirus vaccine they receive.
Malaysia has reported 5,725 new coronavirus cases, the highest daily increase since the start of the pandemic a year ago.
The new cases took the cumulative total of infections past the 200,000 mark. Health authorities also reported 16 deaths, raising total fatalities to 733.
A family member of a victim of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) prays after a burial at a cemetery, in Batu Caves, Malaysia [Lim Huey Teng/Reuters]
WHO team visits hospital in Wuhan amid ongoing probe
A WHO-led team of experts investigating the origins of COVID-19 visited a hospital in the Chinese city of Wuhan that was one of the first to treat patients in the early days of the outbreak.
The team went to the Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine where Zhang Jixian, director of the hospital’s department of respiratory and critical care, has been cited by state media as the first to report the novel coronavirus, after treating an elderly couple in late 2019 whose CT scans showed differences from typical pneumonia.
“Extremely important 1st site visit. We are in the hospital that treated some of the first known cases of COVID-19, meeting with the actual clinicians & staff who did this work, having open discussion about the details of their work,” Peter Daszak, a member of the WHO-led team, wrote on Twitter.
Extremely important 1st site visit. We are in the hospital that treated some of the first known cases of COVID-19, meeting with the actual clinicians & staff who did this work, having open discussion about the details of their work. https://t.co/yDEPedtC11
The team was released from two weeks of quarantine on Thursday. It plans to visit labs, markets and hospitals during its remaining two weeks in Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first identified in late 2019.
Germany expects ‘limits’ on EMA AstraZeneca approval
Germany expects EU regulator EMA to impose restrictions when it authorises the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the bloc as efficacy data for older people are insufficient, said Health Minister Jens Spahn.
“We’re not expecting an authorisation without limits,” he told a press conference.
The EMA is on Friday due to approve the vaccine developed with the University of Oxford. However, questions remain about how well the AstraZeneca vaccine protects older people. Only 12 percent of the participants in its research were older than 55 and they were enrolled later, so there hasn’t been enough time to get results.
Germany’s vaccine commission said on Thursday it could not recommend the use of the jabs on people aged 65 years and older because efficacy data for the group were lacking. Britain’s medicines regulatory agency also acknowledged the limited data in older people but still cleared the shot last month for all adults, with some caution for pregnant women.
EU chief wants to publish AstraZeneca contract
The European Commission plans to publish a redacted copy of its contract with drugs giant AstraZeneca, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said, amid a dispute over delays to vaccine deliveries.
“We want to publish it today. We are talking to the company about which parts have to be blacked out,” she told German broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.
Vietnam to begin mass testing
Vietnam will conduct mass testing for COVID-19 in the northern province of Hai Duong, the epicentre of a new outbreak of the coronavirus, and other affected areas, according to deputy health minister Nguyen Truong Son.
Vietnam has reported 93 locally transmitted infections since the outbreak emerged on Thursday, most linked to an electronics factory in the province. In a statement on the government’s website, Son said most of the remaining 2,340 workers at the factory had subsequently tested negative for the virus.
A health worker takes a swab sample from a resident, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Hai Duong province, Vietnam [Manh Minh/VNA/Handout via Reuters]
UK to not disclose vaccine contract due to national security risk: junior minister
The UK will not publish the vaccine contract it has with AstraZeneca because it would risk national security, said a junior minister.
“Where it is appropriate for the public to be informed we have done so but if that risks national security for any reason, of course, we should not,” British prisons minister Lucy Frazer said when asked why the government was worried about the publication of the contract.
Pressed further on the risk to national security, she said: “Well, that is my understanding,” he told LBC Radio.
UK bans UAE flights
The UK is banning direct passenger flights to and from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Friday, shutting down the world’s busiest international airline route from Dubai to London.
The UK said it was adding the UAE, Burundi and Rwanda to its coronavirus travel ban list because of worries over the spread of a more contagious and potentially vaccine-resistant COVID-19 variant first identified in South Africa.
Novavax says vaccine 89 percent effective in UK trial
Biotech company Novavax has said its coronavirus vaccine was 89.3 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 in a trial conducted in the United Kingdom, and was nearly as effective in protecting against the more highly contagious variant first discovered in the UK, according to a preliminary analysis.
A mid-stage trial of the vaccine in South Africa, where a troubling new variant of the virus is common, showed 60 percent effectiveness among people who did not have HIV.
Novavax shares surged 34 percent in after-hours trading following the release of the trial results on the same day the United States reported its first cases of the South African variant.
Brazil has vaccinated more than a million people, but that is less than 1 percent of the population. The country is struggling to contain the coronavirus and the situation seems far from resolving as a fast-spreader variant of the virus has already been detected in large cities such as Sao Paulo.
The Amazonas state’s capital, Manaus, is facing a shortage of oxygen with healthcare workers working around the clock to prevent patients from suffocating to death.
“You ask a nurse to help you and she says she can’t do anything because she is dealing with another patient who is dying in front of you,” said mourner Valceny Ferreira. “There aren’t enough healthcare workers to deal with this, but we wouldn’t be in this state if the Amazonas state would have invested in the healthcare,” she added.
Researches say the variant of the coronavirus detected in Japan originating in the Brazilian state of Amazonas is already dominant in its capital Manaus, reinforcing initial suspicions that it may be more contagious [Marcio James/AFP]
EU drug regulators have announced AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine can be given to adults in all age groups - the third jab cleared for use in the bloc.
The AZ vaccine had an efficacy of around 60% in trials, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said.
The EMA advice comes after questions were raised in Germany over how effective the jab, developed with Oxford University, is in protecting older people.
Only 12% of those who took part in the trials were over 55 and they were enrolled later, so there has not been enough time to collate the results.
On Thursday, a draft recommendation from Germany's vaccination advisory committee said the AstraZeneca vaccine should currently only be given to people aged 18-64.
The EMA said there were not yet enough results for people over the age of 55 to determine how well the vaccine would work for this group.
More from Covid-19
However, it said protection was expected, given that an immune response is seen in this group - and it ruled the vaccine can be given to older people.
UK regulators acknowledged the limited data for older people when it cleared the jab last month for people over 18.
But Public Health England has said details on the immune response for those 65 and over had been "reassuring".
A separate study testing the AstraZeneca vaccine in the US is still under way.
The vaccine is administered via two injections into the arm, the second 4-12 weeks after the first.
Many countries on the continent have been struggling to vaccinate people as quickly as nations such as the UK.
And it comes amid a bitter wrangle between AstraZeneca and the EU over delayed supplies.
Brussels has hit out at AstraZeneca after the drug giant said it would reduce initial deliveries from 80 million doses to 31 million, blaming production problems.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has said the contract contained binding orders and the bloc has raised the threat of legal action to secure COVID-19 stocks.
The EMA has already authorised the Pfizer and Moderna jabs for all adults.
So which Covid vaccines is Britain getting - and which one is the best? How two companies' jabs are already being used, another is coming in March and two more could be approved within weeks
Britain has so far placed orders for 367 million doses of the seven most promising coronavirus vaccines
Already three of the jabs have been approved, one is awaiting approval and three more are in late stage trials
UK team praised for their ability to approve, secure huge numbers of doses and administer the vaccines
Britain is on course to have a fourth approved coronavirus vaccine in its arsenal after studies of the new Novavax jab yielded promising results last night, as the nation finally turns the tide on its Covid crisis.
The jab is expected to sail through final approval from Britain's medical regulator in the coming weeks and keep the UK one step ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to the rollout of vaccines.
So far the UK has placed orders worth £2.9billion for 367million doses of Covid vaccines, made by seven developers:
Already three of the jabs have been approved – two of which are currently being used – one is awaiting approval and three more are in late stage trials with results expected in the coming weeks and months.
Despite widespread criticism for the Government's pandemic response the Vaccines Taskforce, led by investor Kate Bingham who did the job without a salary and today admitted she 'broke Dry January' to have a glass of wine when she heard about the Novavax results, have been roundly praised for their ability to secure huge numbers of doses of vaccines that have so far turned out to be successful.
Number 10 freed up more than £6billion to develop and procure Covid jabs — a fraction of the £200-plus billion spent on supporting businesses during the economically-crippling lockdowns.
Britain was the first country in the world to approve both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccines and only Israel has administered more of the jabs than the UK.
Here, MailOnline reveals which vaccines the UK has secured so far and how they work.
So far the UK has placed orders for 367million doses of the seven most promising Covid vaccines — made by AstraZeneca , Pfizer , Moderna, Valneva, Janssen, GlaxoSmithKline and Novavax — at a cost of £2.9billion
Pfizer/BioNTech (approved) 40million doses
The breakthrough jab was the first in the world to be proven to successfully block severe Covid-19 last year and it gained approval in the UK on December 2.
It uses brand-new technology and is known as a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine. Conventional vaccines are produced using weakened forms of the virus, but mRNAs use only the virus's genetic code.
An mRNA vaccine is injected into the body where it enters cells and tells them to create antigens. These antigens are recognised by the immune system and prepare it to fight coronavirus.
Studies showed the two-dose vaccine could prevent severe illness in 95 per cent of people who were injected with it.
The Government has ordered 40million doses, enough to vaccinate 20million Brits, but only a handful of million Brits have received the jab so far.
Having vaccines on order is not the same as having them ready to go. Manufacturers are still trying to ramp up production to deliver the agreed supplies around the world.
The UK ran into some logistical difficulties when trying to roll the vaccine out last year which stalled how quickly it could be deployed.
The downside to mRNA vaccines is that they need to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures and cannot be transported easily.
Pfizer/BioNTech's breakthrough jab was the first in the world to be proven to successfully block severe Covid-19 last year and it gained approval in the UK on December 2
In a sign of their confidence in the Oxford-made jab, ministers placed an order for 100million doses last year before it was known if the jab would be successful.
The hope was that it would be easier to roll out because it could be mostly manufactured here and, because it uses traditional vaccine technology, it can be stored and transferred in regular fridges.
Oxford's vaccine is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus known as adenovirus and was shown to be about 70 per cent effective at blocking severe Covid.
The team have modified the adenovirus so it can enter cells but can’t replicate inside them or cause illness.
Researchers have already used this technology to produce vaccines against a number of pathogens including flu, Zika and Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers).
After the vaccine is injected into a person’s arm, the adenoviruses enter human cells and travel to their nuclei, the chamber where the cell’s DNA is stored.
The vaccine are programmed to carry the genetic code of the coronavirus's 'spike protein', which Sars-CoV-2 uses to invade the body.
It uses this genetic code to trick the body into mounting an immune response, priming the immune system to attack coronavirus if the real virus infects the body.
Although the UK has ordered 100million doses, ministers have repeatedly said supply is the 'limiting factor' in rolling it out.
For example, only 530,000 doses of the jab were ready for nationwide rollout on January 4, but AstraZeneca, the British firm which owns the rights to the jab, says it will soon be able to deliver 2million doses a week to Brits.
Moderna (approved) — 17million doses ordered
The jab from the US biotech firm has been approved in the UK but doses will not be available in Britain until the spring.
It also uses mRNA technology and works in a similar way to the Pfizer one already being offered on the NHS and also was found to have 95 per cent efficacy.
However it requires temperatures of around -20C for shipping - similar to a normal freezer.
Because the Moderna jab uses the same brand-new technology as the Pfizer one, Government advisers said it was too big a gamble to place large pre-orders on both.
It meant the UK was late to securing doses and won't receive supplies until March.
Novavax (waiting approval) — 60million doses
US biotech firm Novavax announced its vaccine had successfully completed its phase three clinical trials in the UK last night, paving the way for regulators to give final approval in the coming weeks.
Under a deal with the Government, 60million doses of the vaccine will be produced on Teesside for use in this country, in what could prove to be another triumph for Britain's world-leading vaccine programme.
Novavax, which will be made at the Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies factory in Stockton-on-Tees according to local reports, last night said the trials had shown its vaccine was 89.3 per cent effective
The trial is the first to be completed since the emergence of the new variant of the disease in Kent. Preliminary analysis suggests the vaccine was 85.6 per cent effective against this mutation.
The Novavax vaccine works like other vaccines by teaching the immune system to make antibodies to the coronavirus spike protein.
Researchers inserted a modified gene into a virus, called a baculovirus, and allowed it to infect insect cells.
Spike proteins from these cells were then assembled into nanoparticles which, while they look like coronavirus, cannot replicate or cause Covid-19.
These nanoparticles are then injected into the body via the vaccine where the immune system mounts an antibody response. If the body encounters coronavirus in the future, the body is primed to fend it off.
US biotech firm Novavax announced its vaccine had successfully completed its Phase Three clinical trials in the UK, paving the way for regulators to give final approval in the coming weeks (stock image)
Janssen/Johnson and Johnson (in trials) — 30million doses
Johnson and Johnson will publish results from phase three trials of its coronavirus vaccine next week, the company announced this week.
The jab uses the same adenovirus technology to the Oxford University vaccine, making it just as easy to transport and store, but requires just a single injection to protect against Covid.
Government scientists expect the vaccine, made by Janssen, the Belgian arm of the US pharmaceutical giant, could be given emergency authorisation and rolled out in Britain by mid-February.
The UK has already struck a deal for 30million doses, with the option of ordering 22million more.
If approved, it would be the third Covid jab in the UK's arsenal and could significantly speed up the programme which has been held back by supply shortages.
Johnson and Johnson will publish results from phase three trials of its coronavirus vaccine next week, the company announced this week
Valneva (in trials) — 60million doses
French company Valneva has started manufacturing its Covid vaccine at its Scottish facility with UK supplies expected to be available by the end of 2021 if successful.
The French biotech firm is still mid-way through clinical trials for its vaccine candidate but it has started producing the jab doses already at the site in Livingston, West Lothian.
Successful trials and the approval of the vaccine, of which Britain has already ordered 60million doses, could see the first batches delivered by the end of 2021.
The jab is an 'inactivated whole virus vaccine' which uses a damaged version of the real coronavirus to stimulate the immune system and can be kept in a normal fridge, similarly to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, which makes it easy to roll out.
No other whole virus vaccines have yet been approved for use in Britain, Europe or the US, with the others using only fragments of the virus or genetic material called mRNA.
The Valneva manufacturing plant in Livingston, Scotland, has this week started manufacturing the company's Covid vaccine before clinical trials have finished
GlaxoSmithKline/Sanofi Pasteur (in trials) — 60million doses
Interim results of early phases of the trial showed a strong immune response in adults aged 18 to 50, but a low antibody response in older adults. Clinical trials of the vaccine are ongoing.
Older people are most at risk of dying from Covid-19 and therefore are a key group for any vaccine-maker to target.
The UK in July secured 60million doses of the prospective treatment, but the company says it will likely not be ready before the end of 2021.
Even though it doesn't appear effective in older adults, it could be another jab in the UK's arsenal that could help ministers vaccinate the entire nation once the priority groups have been immunised.
GSK's vaccine is based on the existing technology used to produce Sanofi's seasonal flu vaccine. Genetic material from the surface protein of the Covid virus is inserted into insect cells - the basis of Sanofi's influenza product - and then injected to provoke an immune response in a human patient.
HOW DO THE UK-APPROVED MODERNA, OXFORD AND PFIZER VACCINES COMPARE?
Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech have both released interim results of the final stage clinical trials of their vaccines, with both suggesting they are extremely effective.
Oxford University has published the findings from its second phase, which show the jab provokes an immune response and is safe to use – it is not yet clear how well it protects against coronavirus in the real world.
Here's how they compare:
MODERNA (US)
PFIZER (US) & BIONTECH (DE)
OXFORD UNIVERSITY (UK)
How it works:
mRNA vaccine – Genetic material from coronavirus is injected to trick immune system into making 'spike' proteins and learning how to attack them.
mRNA vaccine – both Moderna's and Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccines work in the same way.
Recombinant viral vector vaccine – a harmless cold virus taken from chimpanzees was edited to produce the 'spike' proteins and look like the coronavirus.
How well does it work?
94.5% effective (90 positive in placebo group, 5 positive in vaccine group) .
95% effective (160 positive in placebo group, 8 positive in vaccine group).
62% - 90% effective, depending on dosing.
How much does it cost?
Moderna confirmed it will charge countries placing smaller orders, such as the UK's five million doses, between £24 and £28 per dose. US has secured 100million doses for $1.525billion (£1.16bn), suggesting it will cost $15.25 (£11.57) per dose.
The US will pay $1.95bn (£1.48bn) for the first 100m doses, a cost of $19.50 (£14.80) per dose.
Expected to cost £2.23 per dose. The UK's full 100m dose supply could amount to just £223million.
Can we get hold of it?
UK has ordered five million doses which will become available from March 2021. Moderna will produce 20m doses this year, expected to stay in the US.
UK has already ordered 40million doses, of which 10million could be available in 2020. First vaccinations expected in December.
UK has already ordered 100million doses and is expected to be first in line to get it once approved.
What side effects does it cause?
Moderna said the vaccine is 'generally safe and well tolerated'. Most side effects were mild or moderate but included pain, fatigue and headache, which were 'generally' short-lived.
Pfizer and BioNTech did not produce a breakdown of side effects but said the Data Monitoring Committee 'has not reported any serious safety concerns'.
Oxford said there have been no serious safety concerns. Mild side effects have been relatively common in small trials, with many participants reporting that their arm hurt after the jab and they later suffered a headache, exhaustion or muscle pain. More data is being collected.
A health worker fills a syringe with a dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at the Appleton Village Pharmacy, amid the coronavirus disease outbreak, in Widnes, Britain [File: Jason Cairnduff/Reuters]
Spain has over 2.7 million coronavirus cases and nearly 58,000 deaths [File: Nacho Doce/Reuters]
A health worker wearing a protective suit enjoys the falling snow at a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing site in Seoul, South Korea [Reuters]
Italy, the country with the second-highest toll of COVID-19 deaths in Europe after the UK, is also grappling with delays in vaccine deliveries by the Pfizer [Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters]
A family member of a victim of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) prays after a burial at a cemetery, in Batu Caves, Malaysia [Lim Huey Teng/Reuters]
A health worker takes a swab sample from a resident, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Hai Duong province, Vietnam [Manh Minh/VNA/Handout via Reuters]
Researches say the variant of the coronavirus detected in Japan originating in the Brazilian state of Amazonas is already dominant in its capital Manaus, reinforcing initial suspicions that it may be more contagious [Marcio James/AFP]
