we've had lots of questions about what
today's approval of the fisa biotech
vaccine actually means our health
correspondent anna collinson is here to
answer some of them
straight off with raymond why is the uk
the first to approve the vaccine
yeah well russia and china have approved
a vaccine of their own but the uk is the
first to approve the pfizer
and bayern tech vaccine and it's down to
the speed of the uk's regulator the mhra
which started its work in january has
been working around the clock since then
pouring through thousands of pages of
data trying to see
if the jab meets the efficacy and safety
standards
now the ema the body which regulates uh
the vaccine for the eu has questioned
the speed that this has happened
but the head of the mhra said this
morning that no corners have been cut
okay david asks why are those who are
classes extremely vulnerable
and over 65 so low on the list yeah so
this refers to the vaccine priority list
which has been drawn up
by the joint committee on vaccinations
and immunizations
and they see age as the biggest risk
factor so what they want is the older
age groups to be right at the front of
the queue when it comes to getting the
vaccine
due to logistical issues however the
vaccine needs
to be stored at minus 70 degrees it's
likely the very first people to actually
get the vaccine will be those in
hospital
patients workers care home staff and
those classified in the extremely
vulnerable and over 65 group
they are still in phase one so they are
likely they're going to be some of the
first people to get the vaccine probably
early 2021 but if they are concerned you
can also get the flu jab if you haven't
already
okay bill asks if you've had covered 19
already will you be getting the vaccine
yeah so the eventual aim is for everyone
to get the covert 19 vaccine regardless
if you've had the virus before or not
the reason is we don't yet know
if the vaccine stops you catching and
spreading the virus
or does it just stop you from getting
ill so more work needs to be done on
that and this morning
the health secretary matt hancock who
previously had covert said he would
be signing up for the vaccine when it
was his turn okay now terry asks is the
vaccine going to be compulsory and what
are the potential side effects
it's a really good question no vaccines
in the uk are compulsory and it's the
same for covert 19.
the reason being experts say making it
compulsory can really damage confidence
but
the prime minister boris johnson is
urging people to take up the vaccine
particularly those in the most at risk
groups as for side effects
data from the fisa trials say they're
mostly very mild
of course no medication is a hundred
percent risk free
if millions are immunized we're going to
see potential side effects appearing
but the hope is that they're going to be
monitored very closely and patients will
report any problems they have along the
way
anna thank you very much anna constance