The government is again looking into its ability to put Moderna vaccine in UK stock
Analysis by Thomas More, S.Science coincide
Seven billion people around the world need to be vaccinated. This means that manufacturers will likely need large numbers of plants to produce the required dosages.
In the UK, the government has secured six different vaccines, 350 million doses in total – the idea is to spread your bets in hopes of getting at least one successful vaccine.
There was no guarantee that any of the vaccines would actually produce a good response. This is why the government has gone with AstraZeneca and Pfizer.
There was a good result with Pfizer last week and we expect AstraZeneca to return any day now with results.
All vaccines reported so far are in the same stadium with an efficacy of between 90% and 94%, so things are actually much better than the scientists had hoped.
Moderna vaccine is easier to distribute than Pfizer’s big problem vaccine.
Not only is Pfizer vaccine kept very cold, but it must be mixed with another liquid before being given.
It’s not the simple withdrawal from the package and injection into the arm that doctors are used to, so there are major advantages to using another vaccine.
The problem is that Moderna is not part of the UK stock. My understanding is that there are concerns about the European supply chain.
This is being addressed now and that is why the government is looking again at its ability to put this vaccine in UK stockpile.
