Gavin Williamson has risked the wrath of European leaders by declaring the UK approved a coronavirus vaccine first ‘because we’re a much better country.’
The Education Secretary stopped short of claiming Britain was able to approve Pfizer’s jab quicker because of Brexit, instead claiming it’s because the country ‘has the best people.’
Yesterday the UK became the first country in the world to approve a coronavirus vaccine when The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency signed off on US and German-made jab.
Doses of the vaccine are expected to arrive in the country today, ahead of an immunisation programme getting under way next week.
Appearing on LBC with Nick Ferrari, Mr Williamson was asked how big a part Brexit had played in allowing the UK to act so quickly.
He replied: ‘I just reckon we’ve got the very best people in this country and we’ve obviously got the best medical regulators – much better than the French have, much better than the Belgians have, much better than the Americans have – that doesn’t surprise me at all because we’re a much better country than every single one of them.’
Asked again whether Brexit had helped, Mr Williamson said: ‘I think just being able to get on with things, deliver it – and the brilliant people in our medical regulator, making it happen – means that people in this country are going to be the first ones in the world to get that Pfizer vaccine.’
Since the news was announced yesterday, prominent Brexiteers have been claiming the UK’s exit from the European Union was instrumental in freeing up the country to approve the vaccine.
Jacob Rees Mogg tweeted: ‘We could only approve this vaccine so quickly because we have left the EU. Last month we changed the regulations so a vaccine did not need EU approval which is slower.’
The Government passed emergency legislation earlier this year that passed responsibility for signing off on any vaccine to the MHRA.
As the UK is still in the Brexit transition period until the end of the year, the country would have otherwise had to wait for EU approval, under the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
This agency has indicated it will not sign off on the Pfizer jab until December 29 at the earliest.
EU leaders have already been critical of the UK’s fast-tracked process and have instead opted for a more thorough check of the jab’s safety, including a more in-depth analysis of all the available data.
A spokesman for the European Commission said the EMA’s procedure was ‘the most effective regulatory mechanism to grant all EU citizens’ access to a safe and effective vaccine,’ as it was based on more evidence.
Germany’s health minister Jens Spahn told a news conference yesterday: ‘The idea is not to be first but to have a safe and effective vaccine.’
But the MHRA has reassured people its work as been ‘equivalent to all international standards.’
‘Our progress has been totally dependent on the availability of data in our rolling review and our rigorous assessment and independent advice we have received,’ June Raine, the head of the regulator, told a press conference yesterday.