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London (AFP) – The vaccine against covid-19 from the Franco-Austrian laboratory Valneva has been approved in the United Kingdom, the regulatory agency MHRA announced on Thursday.
“The covid-19 vaccine developed by Valneva today received approval from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency” (MHRA, for its acronym in English), the agency said in a statement.
Valneva had already received authorization for the emergency use of its inoculant from Bahrain, which purchased one million doses.
The laboratory also signed an agreement with the European Commission to provide a maximum of 60 million doses in 2022 and 2023.
Valneva is the sixth novel coronavirus vaccine to be licensed in the UK, joining AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) and Novavax.
“The Independent Commission for Medicinal Products for Human Use and its group of experts on covid-19 have carefully examined the available evidence and (…) the benefit/risk ratio is positive,” said Professor Munir Pirmohamed, president of the commission. , quoted in a statement.
The Valneva vaccine can be used among people aged 18 to 50 years and requires an interval of 28 days between the first and second dose.
The vaccine can be stored at normal refrigeration temperature, which facilitates its use.
The UK has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused more than 171,000 deaths.
More than 92% of its population aged 12 years or older have received a first dose of a vaccine against covid-19, while 86.2% received the second dose and 67.8% have a booster dose.
© 2022 AFP
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