UK hits another vaccine milestone as Moderna jab begins roll out

The UK’s coronavirus vaccine rollout plan started its launch with great success, and over five million people now received both doses. Now, they have reached yet another milestone as the much anticipated Moderna vaccine is ready for rollout across the nation.

Moderna vaccine begins UK rollout

Today, the first Moderna vaccine will be administered in the UK, with the first of the doses allocated to the West Wales General Hospital in Carmarthen. A further total of 5,000 doses have also been distributed over other vaccination centres. This will make Moderna the third vaccine to be introduced among the general public alongside the Pfizer/BioNTech and the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines, the latter of which has sparked concerns as of recent due to a potential causal link with blood clots.

The UK has already purchased 17 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, enough to protect around 8.5 million UK residents fully. Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed: ‘I'm delighted we can start the UK rollout of the Moderna vaccine in west Wales today.’

Three out of every five people across the whole United Kingdom have received at least one dose, and today we start with the third approved vaccine. Wherever you live, when you get the call, get the jab.

Scotland was the first in Great Britain to receive their Moderna doses on Monday. At the same time, Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi has announced that England is not so far behind and is expected to be deploying their doses around the ‘third week of April.’

According to the researchers behind the Moderna vaccine, there are no serious safety concerns that have been identified among recipients. Side effects, however, include pain at the injection site, headaches and fatigue, all of which are consistent among other COVID vaccines.

Oxford vaccine children’s trial paused due to clotting concerns

Moderna’s rollout comes soon after the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine’s trial for children was paused due to concerns in blood clotting among the adult population.

A spokesperson from the University of Oxford has come forward to clarify that there have been ‘no safety concerns’ with the study itself but that it will be put on hold while the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) completes an investigation.

Over the weekend, the MHRA reported that over 30 blood clotting cases had been identified among the 18 million doses of the Oxford vaccines deployed. Of these 30, seven people have since died. Despite this, the MHRA wants the public to know that the benefits of being vaccinated against coronavirus still outweigh the rare risks, especially when compared to the virus’ own mortality rate.