UK approves third vaccine as London declares ‘major incident’ at hospitals

The UK has approved the Moderna vaccine in a race against time as the nation reported record cases and deaths and hospitals fought to cope.

Ambulances at the Royal London Hospital as the city declares a ‘major incident’. Picture: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

The UK has approved the Moderna vaccine in a race against time to save lives as London Mayor Sadiq Khan declared a “major incident” at the city’s hospitals.

The Moderna vaccine is the third jab approved by the UK, which was the first western country to begin a COVID-19 vaccination programme and has now given nearly 1.5 million people a shot.

The UK has ordered an additional 10 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, taking its total to 17 million, however supplies of the jab will not be available until the spring.

In the meantime, the country is facing a serious crisis as a record 68,053 new infections and 1,325 deaths were reported on Friday, and hospitals in the capital edge closer to being overwhelmed with patients.

“I have declared a major incident in London because the threat this virus poses to our city is at crisis point,” Mr Khan said on Friday.

A special refrigerated box of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines is unpacked at the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center (EBNHC) in Massachusetts. Picture: Joseph Prezioso / AFP)

“One in 30 Londoners now has COVID-19, if we do not take immediate action now, our NHS [National Health Service] could be overwhelmed and more people will die.”

London and England’s southeast have been battered by the spread of a highly contagious mutant strain of coronavirus, and the strain has already begun to spread to other regions. The country is now in a national lockdown, with people banned from leaving their homes except for essential reasons such as exercise, food shopping and medical purposes.

One in 50 people across the UK have COVID-19 and the R (reproduction) number has risen from between 1 and 1.3 to between 1 and 1.4, according to government scientists, meaning the virus is spreading faster.

That means that on average, every 10 people infected will infect between 10 and 14 other people.

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The R number is even higher in the southwest at between 1.1 and 1.5, according to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).

The Moderna vaccine is the second mRNA vaccine to be approved, after the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was the first to be approved in early December. The vaccine is 94% effective in preventing disease, including in the elderly.

The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine — which does not need to be stored at such low temperatures as the other two — was approved at the end of the month and rollout started early this year.

Pedestrians wear face masks as the walk in Chinatown, central London on January 8. Picture: Tolga Akmen / AFP)

UK Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: “This is fantastic news and another weapon in our arsenal to tame this awful disease.”

“While we immunise those most at risk from COVID, I urge everyone to continue following the rules to keep cases low to protect our loved ones.”

The EU also approved the Moderna vaccine this week.

The government said the approval followed a “thorough and rigorous assessment” by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to ensure the vaccine “meets the required standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.”

MHRA Chief Executive Dr June Raine said the approval “brings more encouraging news to the public and the healthcare sector”.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the lockdown could go on until the end of March under the legislation.

But health officials are hoping that the fast-tracked vaccination programme could be rolled out to the top priority groups — elderly people, care home residents and staff, frontline health workers and the extremely clinically vulnerable — by the end of February.