4 lessons from the UK’s COVID-19 vaccine roll-out

In December 2020, the UK became the first western country to authorise the use of a COVID-19 vaccine — just three weeks after Pfizer published the first data from the final stage of its clinical trial. This rapid approval raised expert eyebrows — particularly among US and EU regulators, who held off approval despite having access to the same trial results.

Whilst the nationwide roll-out continues to pose logistical, social, and political challenges, there are some important lessons that regulated entities — in the health sector and beyond — can…