UK marks one year of administering world's first-ever COVID vaccine jab

Today, the world commemorates one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 vaccine programme. The first-ever COVID jab was administered in the United Kingdom on December 8, 2020. Margaret Keenan was given a Pfizer BioNTech jab by nurse May Parsons at her local hospital in Coventry at 6.31 a.m. on December 8, last year. Almost 120 million doses were provided across the UK in a single year, saving countless lives and preventing the NHS from being overburdened.

Following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the booster programme has been expanded across the UK to all adults over the age of 18, and all eligible people will be offered a top-up jab by the end of January, as well as halving the minimum gap between second doses and boosters, according to a press release issued by UK government. The UK Health Security Agency's first real-world study on the effectiveness of booster vaccination against the dominant Delta strain found that top-up jabs improve protection against symptomatic COVID-19 in persons over 50 years old, two weeks following vaccination.

As demonstrated in the COV-Boost research, the booster vaccines Moderna and Pfizer significantly strengthen the immune response, increasing the likelihood that protection against Omicron will be maintained, the release stated. NHS Wales has already begun to speed up the booster programme, delivering more than 19,000 vaccinations every day. They hope to administer more than 200,000 immunizations per week in the coming weeks.

India’s COVID-19 vaccine drive for children & under-18 population

While in India, on Tuesday, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare provided an update on the COVID-19 vaccination program for children under the age of 18. Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, informed the Rajya Sabha that the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid (NEGVAC) and National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) are deliberating and considering scientific evidence related to vaccination of beneficiaries under the age of 18.

The government released a list of COVID-19 vaccinations that are now being tested in the country for those under the age of 18:

• COVOVAX: The Serum Institute of India is conducting a phase II/III clinical trial of Nanoparticle Vaccine (Liquid) in 920 participants ranging in age from >2 to 17 years.
• COVAXIN: COVAXIN is being tested in a phase II/III clinical trial by Bharat Biotech on healthy volunteers aged 2 to 18 years. The DCGI has received interim safety and immunogenicity data from the Hyderabad-based startup.
• Johnson & Johnson: J&J is undertaking a phase II/III clinical trial of the Ad.26COV.2S vaccine in children aged 12 to 17. 
• Biological E Ltd is undertaking a phase II/III clinical trial of RBD of the SARS-CoV-2 gene in 624 patients ranging in age from 5 to 18 years.