Covid-19: Britain begins rollout of Moderna vaccine for first time

Wales has become the first British nation to begin using the Moderna coronavirus vaccine.

Elle Taylor, a caregiver, was the first in Briton to receive the Moderna vaccine when she was given the jab at the West Wales General Hospital in Carmarthen on Wednesday.

The two-dose vaccine was approved by the British regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, on January 8, making it the third coronavirus vaccine to be authorized for usage after Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca/Oxford.

Some 5,000 doses were sent to vaccination centres on Tuesday.

A total of 17 million doses have been bought by Britain in total.

Phase three results showed efficacy against Covid-19 was 94.1 per cent, and efficacy against severe Covid-19 was 100 per cent.

It is an important jab for Wales to receive as its long shelf life and ability to be easily transported will make it easier to vaccinate people who live in remote areas there.

Wales Health Minister Vaughan Gething described the vaccine as “another key milestone” in Wales' fight against coronavirus.

"I'm very excited and very happy," Taylor said after receiving the jab.

"I'm an unpaid carer for my grandmother so it is very important to me that I get it, so I can care for her properly and safely."

The first batch of Moderna vaccines arrived in Scotland on Monday while in England it is expected to be rolled out in the third week of April.

Officials in Northern Ireland have not confirmed when the vaccine produced by the US pharma giant will be given out in the nation.

—GNA