The British government has approved the world's first vaccine for the new coronavirus developed by domestic pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and others.

Mutant virus infections are spreading rapidly in the United Kingdom, raising expectations among people for vaccines.

The British government announced on the 30th that it has approved a vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford.

This vaccine is the first in the world to be approved, and vaccination is scheduled to begin on January 4.



Priority is given to residents and staff of facilities for the elderly, elderly people over 80 years old, and medical staff.



This vaccine is characterized by being able to be stored at 2 to 8 degrees for half a year, and is easier to manage and relatively cheaper than vaccines such as Pfizer, a major American pharmaceutical company that has already started vaccination. I will.



In the United Kingdom, the spread of mutant virus infections is rapidly spreading, and the number of new infections per day is in a serious situation of more than 50,000, raising expectations among people for vaccines.



On the other hand, the Japanese government has signed a contract with AstraZeneca to supply 60 million people if it succeeds in developing this vaccine, and with this approval, Japan will receive three types of vaccines. , It means that it has been approved or approved in Europe and the United States.

What is AstraZeneca's vaccine?

This vaccine is a vaccine that uses the chimpanzee cold virus "adenovirus" that has been processed so that it does not increase in the body.

It is said that it is cheaper and easier to handle than vaccines such as Pfizer, which have already been inoculated in the United Kingdom and the United States.



(Efficacy) In


clinical trials, the

efficacy of

those who received the planned amount of vaccine twice was 62%, while the efficacy of those who received only the first half of the vaccine twice. Is 90%, and AstraZeneca says the average efficacy is 70%.



(Safety)


Regarding safety, in an intermediate stage analysis,


▽ pain when pressing the injected part exceeded 60%,


▽ pain, headache, malaise of the injected part was 50%,


▽ muscle pain. And discomfort was 40%,


and fever and chills were over 30%.


These symptoms were generally mild.



The vaccine's clinical trials were also temporarily suspended to validate safety data, but were soon resumed following an independent expert committee's decision to be safe.



(Ease of handling and price)


Vaccines developed by Pfizer and others, which have already begun to be inoculated in the United Kingdom and the United States, and vaccines developed by the American pharmaceutical company Moderna are stored at extremely low temperatures of minus 70 degrees and minus 20 degrees. Whereas it must be, this vaccine is characterized by being able to be stored at normal refrigerator temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees for at least half a year.



In addition, AstraZeneca has a vaccine of about 300 to 500 yen per dose in Japanese yen, and the price is about one-fourth of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and others.



AstraZeneca is promoting cooperation with governments and international frameworks, saying that it can stably supply vaccines to developing countries.

Vaccine recommendations changed

UK regulators have changed their recommendations for vaccines developed by Pfizer and others and published them on the 30th.



In the United Kingdom, two people have had a severe allergic reaction called anaphylaxis after vaccination, and regulators have said that those who have had similar symptoms with vaccines, drugs and food in the past are vaccinated. I was advised not to inoculate.



The revised recommendation states that people who have had an allergic reaction in the past due to the ingredients contained in the vaccine should not be vaccinated, while those who have food allergies can be vaccinated.

In addition, pregnant women and lactating women have not been recommended so far, but the revised recommendation will include vaccination if the benefits outweigh the risks after consulting with a doctor. It is possible.



In addition, the timing of the second vaccination was previously set to "3 weeks after" the first vaccination, but this has been changed to "at least 3 weeks later", and the second vaccination should be given up to 12 weeks later. I decided to go.



The British government says the change will increase the number of people who can get the vaccine even once.