All eyes now turn to Brexit.

P.S. Ug didn't write that post, she copied and pasted it. I assume the congraulations are for the copy and paste skills ?

It's so easy to get people to swallow those lies, isn't it...

I second that JenniferEccles.
Well done PM.

Good post Urms.

It sounds as if we owe Boris a huge round of applause for ensuring that we are at least a month ahead of other European countries.

He hinted at something during his press conference earlier, following a question from a journalist, but was careful to appear modest.

Well done PM.

It's a load of B*llocks. The only reason that the UK has early approval is that it can do this under the EU regulations by which it is bound until 31st December.

You're falling for the lies... again.

From the CEO of the UK MHRA, which you appear to have not bothered to read when itt was posted earlier:

We have been able to authorize the supply of this vaccine using provisions under European law, which exist until the 1st of January.
So I hope that clarifies the point about the European relationship."

Dr June Raine CEO UK MHRA.

So it seems that Brexit has done the UK population a good turn, we get to use this vaccine first, then the US then later on EU countries.Cutting through red tape often has advantages.

Apologies to all for my bitty posting. I’m having problems with my iPad.

That was an article from the Telegraph.
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard.

While Europe’s calendar is not yet clear, the EU regulator has pencilled in a decision at the end of December. That is a wasted month. The roll-out will then be painfully slow across Southern Europe.

Italy’s health minister, Roberto Speranza, said jabs will start around January 23-26 and this long interlude will require “more weeks of sacrifice”. Given the lag effects of two doses and the time it takes to make inroads into the population, this dooms Italy to draconian curbs through the peak winter months if it is to avert the dreaded terza ondata.

France will not vaccinate until the New Year and will then run into the anti-vax brigade, a movement that has mushroomed since the H1NI vaccine narcolepsy cases in 2009, and lately fed by the ever wilder utterings of Didier Raoult - once a microbiologist.

An IPSOS survey found that 46pc of the French will refuse a jab, compared to Spain (36pc), Italy (35pc), Germany (30pc) and the UK (21pc).

British willingness to trust their scientists is a trump card as we go into the next phase. We will reach herd immunity and economic reopening that much faster.

Portugal, Spain, and Greece hope to vaccinate in early January, but by then Pfizer supplies and dry ice will be in acute demand, and stockpiles getting shorter. Whatever happens there is likely to be a strange few weeks as Europeans watch the UK vaccination campaign, while their own countries are frozen in immobilism and people become ever more angry over shut restaurants and lockdown curbs.

While Europe’s calendar is not yet clear, the EU regulator has pencilled in a decision at the end of December. That is a wasted month. The roll-out will then be painfully slow across Southern Europe.

Italy’s health minister, Roberto Speranza, said jabs will start around January 23-26 and this long interlude will require “more weeks of sacrifice”. Given the lag effects of two doses and the time it takes to make inroads into the population, this dooms Italy to draconian curbs through the peak winter months if it is to avert the dreaded terza ondata.

France will not vaccinate until the New Year and will then run into the anti-vax brigade, a movement that has mushroomed since the H1NI vaccine narcolepsy cases in 2009, and lately fed by the ever wilder utterings of Didier Raoult - once a microbiologist.

An IPSOS survey found that 46pc of the French will refuse a jab, compared to Spain (36pc), Italy (35pc), Germany (30pc) and the UK (21pc).

British willingness to trust their scientists is a trump card as we go into the next phase. We will reach herd immunity and economic reopening that much faster.

Portugal, Spain, and Greece hope to vaccinate in early January, but by then Pfizer supplies and dry ice will be in acute demand, and stockpiles getting shorter. Whatever happens there is likely to be a strange few weeks as Europeans watch the UK vaccination campaign, while their own countries are frozen in immobilism and people become ever more angry over shut restaurants and lockdown curbs.

The UK’s approval of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine clears the way for immunisation of health care staff as soon as Monday.

The armed forces - vaccination veterans from Africa - will deploy their logistical muscle to set up injection hubs and a cold storage chain in the biggest military operation since the Falklands War.

It t is indisputable that the UK has stolen a march by freeing itself from the EU’s policy orbit and going its own way under the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the teeth-arm of the EU system in its day.

There was much outrage in anti-Brexit circles when Boris Johnson shunned the EU’s vaccine alliance. He was accused of reckless nationalistic infantilism. It was said that the UK would not have the great power ‘clout’ to obtain global vaccines at scale. Events have not played out remotely as they expected.

We can only hope that Brexit won’t be a major issue.

Quite agree

Don’t forget that the EU has, using its enormous economic muscle purchased sufficient for all its members.

There will be no hold up once the EU begins it vaccination programme.

We can only hope that Brexit won’t be a major issue.

Well who knows, MaizieD

There is plenty of information out there
which suggests that we have been able to act faster because of our regulations that allowed emergency approval by MHRA

EMA isn't meeting until after Christmas.

The European Medicines Agency will meet on 29 December to decide if there is enough data about the safety and efficacy of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine for it to be approved.

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/germany-covid-vaccine-approval-b1764467.html

Why hasn't the EU taken it?

They haven't chosen to. Though apparently the action taken by the UK's MHRA could, under EU law, have been taken by any other member state who wanted to.

We're being used as some experiment?

Perhaps our great and glorious leader has urged the MHRA to make us truly world beating at something...

CNN reported today, that all eyes will be on U.K. to see what issues arise etc as we are the first, although the USA is only about a week behind. I suspect one if the reasons being that their equivalent to our MHRA is held, unlike ours, in full public view and scrutiny so will be watched by all Americans.

Every batch sent to the U.K. will be tested by the MHRA.

Yes, I am well aware of what Dr. June Raine said

And I'd have thought we all know that we're still acting under European law.

So,why do you think that we are getting this vaccine before anyone else?

Why hasn't the EU taken it?

Is it all part of some evil plan to infect us all as some posters seem to believe?

We're being used as some experiment?

I trust the expert

"We have been able to authorize the supply of this vaccine using provisions under European law, which exist until the 1st of January.
So I hope that clarifies the point about the European relationship."
Dr June Raine CEO UK MHRA.

I may be old fashioned, but when I know someone is likely to lie, I can never trust them again.

The Guardian explains why we have been able to access the vaccine first.

Now I'm sure that this paper is anti Brexit

But hey ho

Until 1 January 2021, licensing decisions on medicines and vaccines would have been taken by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which was based in London until Brexit. But the UK government passed regulations to allow the MHRA to give emergency authorisation to Covid vaccines if manufacturers had sufficient data to apply before the end of the year.

So this government, who I did not vote for, seems to have done something right

I may be old fashioned, but I have always preferred to believe the experts.

“So hard to decide who to believe ... the MHRA regulator who says the vaccine only possible because of EU Law or those beacons of probity, Johnson, Hancock, and Mogg who say its all down to the big red bus.”

I think we ought to go with the regulator for now ?

Campbell

We could only approve this vaccine so quickly because we have left the EU. Last month we changed the regulations so a vaccine did not need EU approval which is slower

It was a JRM tweet yes.
Very irresponsible of him if this isn’t true.

“The liars and charlatans are so desperate to rescue anything from the Brexit wreckage that they have fabricated a gigantic Trumpian lie about the vaccine being a post Brexit regulatory success story. When they should be thanking worldwide science and European manufacturers”

Campbell

Kandinsky

We got the COVID vaccine before any other European country because we’re no longer in the EU. ( didn’t need their approval )
What I’ve just read anyway.
Awesome!

Oh dear don’t believe everything you read?

That’s what idiots like Mogg are trying to spin, it is a lie just like all the other lies they have told us - the truth is this—

Dr June Raine(MHRA) - “We’ve been able to authorise supply of this vaccine using provisions under European law which exist until January 1st.”

There needs to be consequences when politicians tell bare faced lied to the nation.

This vaccine has come from Germany because we are still in the trsnsition period. ( in effect still under EU regs).

Thank goodness it has happened now and not after the end of the year.