With first authorization worldwide for BioNTech-Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, U.K. asserts speedy review was thorough

The U.K. will start its COVID-19 vaccination program next week following MHRA’s authorization of BNT162b2 from partners BioNTech and Pfizer. The news comes as some European lawmakers criticized the speed of MHRA’s approval.

It’s the first authorization worldwide for the mRNA vaccine for COVID-19. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) expect to supply a total of 50 million doses globally by Dec. 31. At a press briefing Wednesday, BioNTech’s CBO and Chief Commercial Officer Sean Marett didn’t specify how many of those doses would be supplied to the U.K., other than to say the U.K. would receive “a fair allocation.”...