GERMANY considered fast-tracking the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for Covid-19 but did not do so because convincing people of its safety was crucial, Germany’s health minister has said.
The head of the UK medicines regulator, Dr June Raine, stressed on Wednesday that “no corners had been cut” in approving the injection.
However, Jens Spahn said Germany wanted to create confidence during the vetting process.
“The idea is not that we’re the first, but the idea is to have safe and effective vaccines in the pandemic and that we can create confidence, and nothing is more important than confidence with respect to vaccines,” he said.
“BioNTech is a European development funded by the European Union and it shows that a product from the European Union is so good that it is authorised so quickly in the UK, that in this crisis what is best is European and international cooperation.
“We have member states, including Germany, who could have issued such an emergency authorisation if we’d wanted to, but we decided against this and what we opted for was a common European approach to move forward together.”
READ MORE: Scotland's older citizens to get Covid vaccine from December 14
The developers of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine approved for use in the UK have submitted an application to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for “conditional marketing authorisation”, which is currently under evaluation, along with another from Moderna Biotech, of Spain. The EMA is also conducting a rolling review of the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine and one from Janssen-Cilag International.
So far, the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), has only authorised Dexamethasone for use on Covid-19 patients on ventilation.
Meanwhile, top US infectious diseases expert Dr Anthony Fauci has said the UK was not as rigorous as the US in the approval process.
He told Fox News: “The UK did not do it as carefully. If you go quickly and you do it superficially, people are not going to want to get vaccinated.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel