* For a separate FACTBOX on other vaccines, click
,
and click for the frontrunners

    Dec 8 (Reuters) - Britain began the mass-vaccination of its
population against COVID-19 on Tuesday, becoming the first
Western nation to do so in a global endeavor that poses one of
the biggest logistical challenges in peacetime history.

    Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old grandmother from Britain,
became the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer
vaccine outside of a trial following its rapid clinical approval
on Dec. 2.
    Pfizer said in November final results from the late-stage
trial of its COVID-19 vaccine showed it was 95% effective.
    Below are the main details of the vaccine, progress on
supply deals and potential approvals:

    TYPE
    - The vaccine, called BNT162b2, is based on messenger RNA
(mRNA) technology, which uses a chemical messenger to instruct
cells to make proteins that mimic the outer surface of the new
coronavirus, thereby creating immunity.
    
    - mRNA relies on synthetic genes that can be generated and
manufactured in weeks, and produced at scale more rapidly than
conventional vaccines.
    
    - The new technology has not been approved for any other
vaccines so far; Pfizer and BioNTech have already collaborated
to develop influenza vaccines based on mRNA.
    
    - The vaccine needs to be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius
(-94 F) or below

    DOSAGE AND EXPECTED COST
    - Based on the supply deal with the United States, the price
tag amounts to $39 for what is likely to be a two-dose course.

    
    - Pfizer has said it will not charge other developed
countries a lower price for the vaccine than what the United
States will pay.
    
    PROTECTION DURATION
    - BioNTech Chief Executive Officer Ugur Sahin has said he is
optimistic the immunization effect of the vaccine would last for
a year. Scientists do not know how long the effect will last.

    
    PENDING APPROVALS
    - India is accelerating its review of Pfizer's vaccine to
for emergency use, a senior official said on Dec.7.
    
    - Canadian health authorities could approve the vaccine
within the next week, medical officials indicated on Dec. 3.

    
   -  The European Medicines Agency said on Dec. 1 that if its
experts have received enough data from Pfizer about the vaccine,
the agency will complete its reviews by Dec. 29.   
    
    - Pfizer and BioNTech submitted approval requests for their
vaccine candidates to the European drugs regulator on Dec. 1.
    
    - U.S. FDA granted the vaccine a 'fast track' status in
mid-July, and is expected to give more indications of its use
this week.

    - Pfizer signed a deal worth up to $750 million with
BioNTech in March to co-develop the potential vaccine, and it
ran clinical trials in April.


    - Testing of the vaccine began in the United States in May
after trials started in Germany the previous month.

   
    TRIALS    
    - Trials are continuing globally in 154 locations, including
in Germany, Japan, Brazil and in several locations within the
United States in participants aged 12 years and older. The
global Phase I/II/III trials enrolled about 44,000 volunteers.
(https://bit.ly/3lfaaeF)
    
    - Below are the different countries, in alphabetical order,
where trials are being conducted or are planned:

 REGION     STATUS         EXPECTED PRIMARY COMPLETION
 Argentina  Recruiting     June 2021
 Brazil     Recruiting,    June 2021 (https://reut.rs/3kdU2J1)
            Late stage     
 Germany    Recruiting/Ac  June 2021
            tive           
 Japan      Not yet        Nov. 2021 (https://reut.rs/32tz0Qr)
            recruiting     
 South      Recruiting     June 2021
 Africa                    
 Turkey     Recruiting     June 2021
 U.S.       Recruiting/Ac  June 2021 (https://bit.ly/35IlXfW)
            tive           
 
 REGULATORY REVIEWS
 (most recent first)
    
 REGION    SUBMISSIO  STATUS         FORMAL      FURTHER
           N/REVIEW                  APPLICATIO  
                                     N           
 Britain   Emergency  Granted        Approved                
           Use        temporary                  
                      authorization              
 Europe    Emergency  Launched in    Applied                 
           Use        Dec                        
 United    Emergency  Launched in    Applied                 
 States    Use        Nov                        
 Canada    Rolling    Launched in    Not                     
           review     Oct            submitted   
 India     Emergency  Under review   Applied                 
           use                                   
    
     TARGETED DOSES
    - Currently the companies expect to produce globally up to
50 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine in 2020, enough to
protect 25 million people
    
    - The companies expect to manufacture up to 1.3 billion
doses in 2021.
    
    SUPPLY DEALS
    (most recent first)
    
 REGION    DOSES      FUNDING        EXPECTED       FURTHER
                                     DELIVERIES     
 Germany   Unknown    375 mln euros  Unknown                    
                      ($446 mln)                    
 Japan     120 mln    Undisclosed    First half of              
                                     2021           
 Europe    Up to 300  Undisclosed    To start by                
           mln                       end of 2020    
 Canada    Unknown    Undisclosed    Unknown                    
 U.S.      100 mln    $1.95 bln for  Unknown                    
           plus       100 mln doses                 
           option                                   
           for 500                                  
           mln more                                 
 UK        Increased  Undisclosed    10 mln by the              
           to 40 mln                 end of 2020    
           in Nov,                                  
           had                                      
           agreed 30                                
           mln in                                   
           July                                     
 
    (Sources: Reuters reporting, press releases, clinical trial
registries, World Health Organization)
    
 ($1 = 0.8405 euros)

    
 (Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka, Vishwadha Chander and Yadarisa
Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Aurora Ellis; Shounak Dasgupta
and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)