London, April 7 (Sputnik) : The UK begins the rollout of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in Wales on Wednesday, as part of a national vaccination campaign that has seen three out of five people across the whole country receiving at least one dose of the AstraZeneca/Oxford or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines so far, Health Minister Matt Hancock confirmed.
“I’m delighted we can start the UK rollout of the Moderna vaccine in west Wales today. The UK government has secured doses on behalf of the entire nation and the vaccination programme has shown our country working together at its best,” Hancock said.
The health secretary also stressed that three out of every five people across the United Kingdom – more than 31.6 million people – have already received at least one dose of the AstraZeneca/Oxford or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines since the immunization campaign began in December 2020.
The UK government has ordered 17 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, which was approved by the UK regulator in January.
The rollout of the third COVID-19 vaccine in west Wales comes as the regulatory agencies from the UK, the European Union, and the World Health Organization are investigating incidents with patients who received the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine and later developed a rare form of blood clots.
Although several European countries suspended the use of the vaccine, the European Medicines Agency later made a recommendation to continue using the drug, while the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said that the benefits of taking the jab outweigh the risks.
On Tuesday, the University of Oxford announced that it had suspended a trial of the vaccine on children aged 6-17 as a precaution. (UNI)