LONDON (AP) – A major group of British doctors says the British government should “urgently review” its decision to give people a second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine up to 12 weeks after the first, instead of the shortest gap recommended by the manufacturer and the World Health Organization.
The UK, which has the deadliest coronavirus outbreak in Europe, adopted the policy to give as many people as possible a first dose of vaccine quickly. To date, nearly 5.5 million people have received a vaccine made by US drug maker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech or developed by UK pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
AstraZeneca has said it believes a first dose of its vaccine offers protection after 12 weeks, but Pfizer says it has not tested the effectiveness of its shot after such a long gap.
On Saturday, the British Medical Association urged England’s chief medical officer to “urgently review the UK’s current second-dose position after 12 weeks”.
In a statement, the association said there was “growing concern on the part of the medical profession about the delay in the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, as the British strategy has become increasingly isolated from many other countries “.
“No other nation has taken the UK approach,” Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the BMA council, told the BBC.
He said the WHO had recommended that the second Pfizer vaccine be administered up to six weeks after the first, but only “in exceptional circumstances”.
“I understand commitment and justification, but if that were right, we would see other nations follow suit,” Nagpaul said.
Yvonne Doyle, medical director of Public Health England, defended the decision as “a reasonable scientific balance based on both the supply and the protection of the majority of people.”
Researchers in Britain have begun collecting blood samples from newly vaccinated people to study how many antibodies they produce at different intervals, from 3 weeks to 24 months, to get an answer to the question of which time is best for prey.
Doctors’ concerns came a day after government medical advisers said there was evidence that a new variant of the virus first identified in the south-east of England carries a higher risk of death than the original strain.
Chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance said Friday “there is evidence that there is a greater risk for those who have the new variant,” which is also more transmissible than the original virus. He said the new strain could be about 30 percent more deadly, but stressed that “the evidence is not yet strong” and more research is needed.
Research by British scientists advising the government said that although initial analyzes suggested the strain did not cause more serious illnesses, several more recent ones suggest it could be. However, the death toll is relatively small and mortality rates are affected by many things, including the care patients receive and their age and health, beyond having COVID-19.
Britain has recorded 95,981 deaths among people who tested positive, the highest number of confirmed viruses in Europe.
The UK is in a lockdown to try to curb the latest rise in the virus and the government says the end of restrictions will not come soon. Pubs, restaurants, gyms, entertainment venues and many shops are closed and people have to stay home.
The British government is considering tightening quarantine requirements for people arriving from abroad. Travelers already have to isolate themselves for ten days, but the application is erratic. Authorities are considering forcing arrivals to stay in quarantine hotels, a practice adopted in other countries, including Australia.
“We may have to go further to protect our borders,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday.
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