COVID-19 vaccines (Pfizer/BioNTech and COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca): current advice

7 January 2021 - Advice from the MHRA on the COVID-19 vaccines authorised for use in the UK, including advice for people with allergies and for women during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

The information in this article reflects understanding at the time of publication on 7 January 2021. See guidance on COVID-19 for all our latest information.

AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine approved

On 30 December 2020, the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University/AstraZeneca was given regulatory approval by the MHRA after meeting required safety, quality, and effectiveness standards. This followed a rigorous, detailed scientific review by the MHRA’s expert scientists and clinicians and on the basis of the advice of its scientific, independent advisory body, the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM).

See Information for Healthcare Professionals, and Information for UK recipients about the COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca. The vaccine has been approved for use for people 18 years or older and consists of a course of two doses, with the second dose administered 4–12 weeks after the first dose.

Further advice for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine

The COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer/BioNTech was approved for use by MHRA on 2 December 2020.

The CHM has reviewed further data for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine as they have become available. On 30 December 2020, CHM recommended the following:

Updates have been made to the Information for healthcare professionals and Information for UK recipients about the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to include these elements.

Reporting side effects

Healthcare professionals are asked to report any suspected side effects to COVID-19 vaccines. Report using the dedicated Coronavirus Yellow Card reporting site or the Yellow Card app.

Include the vaccine brand and batch/lot number in Yellow Card reports if available.

Reporting potential defects

In accordance with the published information and existing guidance, any potential defects identified by healthcare professionals should be managed as set out below (modified September 2021 to reflect current practices).

  1. Do not use the vial for vaccination.
  2. Do not discard the vial, instead please keep it aside in a secure place as further investigation may be required.
  3. Complete a Yellow Card or contact the MHRA Defective Medicines Report Centre directly (DMRC@mhra.gov.uk).
  4. Once the report has been logged via the Yellow Card system, the complaint will be assigned a UNIQUE MDR# number (please note a new MDR# number is generated for each complaint so please retain for your records).
  5. Samples should not be sent without being reported through the Yellow Card system and must have attached the description of complaint/Yellow Cards and reference numbers. Any unidentifiable samples will be destroyed.
  6. In the usual way, report the issue to the National Vaccination Operations Centre (NVOC) via the agreed escalation process, including batch number and any other relevant details.

The information in this article reflects understanding at the time of publication on 7 January 2021 and will not be actively updated with new information. See guidance on COVID-19 for all our latest information, including after publication of this article.

Updates to this page

Published 7 January 2021