there's more good news tonight for the
uk's vaccination program a fourth
vaccine could be approved shortly after
major trials in the uk
showed it was particularly effective
against the uk variant
novovax is an american jab but it's
being produced here in the uk
in a factory on t side tonight the prime
minister thanked all the volunteers
involved in the trials and said if
approved by the uk's medicine regulator
the uk has 60 million doses on order
the news came amid a deepening row
between astrazeneca and the european
union over vaccine shortages
our medical editor fergus walsh reports
once again science has triumphed in the
fight against coronavirus
the u.s firm novavax has released
results of its british trial
showing the first proven efficacy
against the new more contagious
uk variant there were more than fifteen
thousand volunteers
on the trial throughout the uk over half
the cases of covid recorded
were the result of the new variant the
result showed
the vaccine was 95 percent effective
against the original covet strain and
over
85 effective against the new uk variant
giving an overall efficacy of 89
the former head of the uk vaccine task
force said
that in a separate trial in south africa
the vaccine had showed
it protected against the variant of
concern there
it's a fantastic result because it shows
that the novovax vaccine is
effective against both the uk variant
as well as the south african variant and
has shown phenomenal efficacy
and it's made in t-side so not only have
we trialled the
um vaccine to show that it's safe and
effective but we're also making it too
so we'll be able to save lives in the uk
meanwhile the biggest immunization drive
in the history of the nhs
just keeps growing this supermarket
pharmacy near birmingham
started offering covet jabs today to the
over 75s
one of more than 1400 vaccination sites
in
england alone what a contrast in madrid
where supplies of vaccine have all but
dried up
the spanish capital has cancelled all
appointments
for around two weeks the eu was slow off
the mark in ordering vaccine
and now wants some of the uk supply of
astrazeneca doses
in may the uk government was the first
to sign a deal with astrazeneca
for a hundred million doses of its covid
vaccine
it wasn't until august three months
later that the european union signed an
agreement
for up to 400 million doses last month
the uk's mhra became the first regulator
in the world
to approve the oxford astrazeneca jab
tomorrow the european medicines agency
is meeting
and is expected to approve the vaccine
but for the moment
it remains unlicensed in the eu
the astrazeneca vaccine is grown in
bioreactors
i've seen how complex the process is at
this
site in oxford by contrast there have
been
poor yields at the main european site in
belgium
the eu is threatening legal action to
force astrazeneca
to hand over some doses made here we can
and will
get doses of the vaccine from
the uh series of plants which are
mentioned
in the in the contract and therefore
also including those
in the united kingdom and there's
another twist
germany's vaccine committee has said the
astrazeneca jab should for now
not be given to people age 65 and above
it cited insufficient evidence in how
effective it is
in older people the government here
firmly rejects that
our own authorities have made it very
clear that they
think the oxford astrazeneca vaccine is
uh
very good and uh and efficacious they
think that
it is effective across all age groups
and provides
a good immune response across all age
groups
there is limited evidence on how well
the astrazeneca vaccine
works in the over 65s but leading
scientists here
say they're confident it will give
strong protection
and fergus joins me now so more good
news another
vaccine potentially novavax how
significant could that prove to be
huge sophie now this is already in the
hands of the medical regulator the mhra
began what they call a rolling review of
the data from these
uk trials of the novovax vaccine earlier
this month
and if and we they have to prove that
it's safe and effective
if they approve it then it'll be
produced here and it will
put rocket boosters under the uk
vaccine program which is already
outstripping
most of europe so it's brilliant news
and the fact that it's effective
highly effective against the uk variant
and less so effective but still
effective against the south african one
fantastic news you were talking just now
about the astrazeneca
jab in germany they're advising it not
to be given to the over 65 should people
here be worried people who've had it
well there's no concerns about safety in
fact there were fewer side effects in
older people who received
the oxford astrazeneca vaccine in the
trials this is about
effectiveness now there isn't much
effectiveness
data from the trials but
what the medical regulator and the
scientists at oxford
and those who advise the government all
said was the immune responses of the
elderly were so strong
and so similar to younger adults the
the vaccine should be effective we'll
get more data on that soon
and there may be a bit of vaccine
nationalism here from the germans
they've brought up extra supplies of the
fisa biontech vaccine
developed in germany and they will use
that
for those age 65 and over ferguson thank
you
well france portugal and germany are
just some of the eu member states
struggling to get hold of enough vaccine
supplies
vaccinations are having to be postponed
before the rollout has really begun
germany's health minister says the
country is facing a shortage well into
april
and warned of at least 10 tough weeks
ahead
jenny hill reports on the difficulties
germany is facing
a waiting room without any patients a
vaccination center
without any vaccine germany relied on
the eu to place its orders
a decision which may have come at a cost
we really feel it here people keep
asking us why we haven't been vaccinated
yet
at the end of the day these are
political decisions which i have to
accept
but i am looking forward to the time
when we have enough vaccine
and can get on with it
no tourists now for city guide teresa
immunity
would bring life back to marburg streets
restart the german economy
but just two percent of the population
have had their first dose of the vaccine
so far
if they're good even so she tells us it
was right for the eu to order vaccine
together
if everyone in germany gets vaccinated
but not people in the countries around
it
then the plague comes back over the
border if we do it we should do it
together
even if we have to wait months of
restrictions here appear to be paying
off germany's infection rates
are now falling but there's real concern
about the impact of
new variants like those discovered in
britain or south africa
and while the german government has
pledged to offer every citizen a
vaccination by the end of the summer
that's starting to look like a very hard
promise to keep
so far germany's relied on the fisa
biontech vaccine the manufacturer has
announced delays
though a new production site here in
marburg is expected to boost output
supplies too are expected from moderna
and if approved and on time
astrazeneca though germany may only give
it to the under 65s
we want to know what took so long we
want to know which member states were
rather reluctant in ordering together
and which member states said
hey let's go forward i think it would
have been a great sign
from germany as the economically
strongest members day to say
hey if it's a question of money we'll
just play
let's say 10 billion euro on the table
to get things going
marburg's vaccination center closed now
though they expect supplies to arrive
next week
no one's quite sure what happens after
that and even the german government
warned today
the next 10 weeks will be tough jenny
hill
bbc news marburg