Belgium dispatches first COVID vaccine consignment to UK

LONDON: Britain received on Thursday its first consignment of Covid vaccine prepared by Pfizer and BioNTech that its medical drugs board has approved to be administered in a world-first, ARY News reported.

The vaccine which will be stored in a controlled environment with a temperature not more than -70-degree centigrade, is developed in Pfizer’s Belgium plant in collaboration with German company BioNTech.

British authorities have said they will start administering the vaccine by Tuesday.

Separately, it is reported that Britain will add COVID-19 vaccines to an existing scheme to cover liabilities from any potential severe side-effects of the shots, a day after it became the first Western country to approve a vaccine against the illness which has created global havoc.