INSTANT VIEW-Britain approves Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, rollout to begin next week

Britain on Wednesday became the first country in the world to approve the COVID-19 vaccine developed by U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech , and said it will be rolled out from early next week. Now, less than 11 months from the first characterisation of the virus sequence, we have the first emergency approval for use of a really effective vaccine.

Britain on Wednesday became the first country in the world to approve the COVID-19 vaccine developed by U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech , and said it will be rolled out from early next week. Here are some reactions to the news:

DANNY ALTMANN, PROFESSOR OF IMMUNOLOGY AT IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON: "Exciting news keeps coming, but this really is momentous. Nobody knew how the battle to find effective vaccines would pan out. Now, less than 11 months from the first characterisation of the virus sequence, we have the first emergency approval for use of a really effective vaccine. Truly heroic. I don't think we should get too hung up on 'the race' and this as the 1st approval. Over the next several weeks we'll likely see a number of licenses granted- and we do need them all to get speedily out of this mess"

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