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Northern Ireland is expected to receive up to 4.3 million doses of two coronavirus vaccines once they receive official authorization, their Department of Health has said.<\/p>\nNorthern Ireland is expected to receive up to 4.3 million doses of two coronavirus vaccines once they receive official authorization, their Department of Health has said.<\/p>\n
The country will take 2.85 per cent of the total amount that eventually becomes available to the UK \u2013 in line with the formula dividing resources.<\/p>\n
The department added: \u201cCurrently two of the leading vaccines, Pfizer and AstraZeneca, have completed their final phase 3 trials and will now be seeking authorization from the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency).<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth of these vaccines may therefore be authorized and available for use in the UK by the end of December.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition to the 1.5 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, Northern Ireland is also expected to receive up to 2,850,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.\u201d<\/p>\n
At present the UK has secured access to seven vaccine candidates which could potentially result in 355 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines being made available in the UK, subject to them passing the required safety and efficacy tests.<\/p>\n
The vaccines are broken down as:<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the vaccine team at the University of Oxford said it had been shown to trigger a robust immune response in healthy adults aged 56-69 and in those over 70 years of age.<\/p>\n
The data, published in The Lancet, suggested that one of the groups most vulnerable to serious illness, and death from Covid-19, could build immunity.<\/p>\n