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Comment by DanBC | Hacker News Reader

Some cultural notes: UK Conservative politicians have started claiming that our rapid approval was because of Brexit.

UK med regulators have said that's bollocks. They say the med was approved under existing EU regs.

MHRA say that no corners were cut. They claim the rapidity of the decision was because all parties were in alignment: they want a safe vaccine, so all funding was available when it needed to be and all evidence was rapidly assessed.

https://twitter.com/ShaunLintern/status/1334078198318059520?...

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Some cultural notes: the UK is in a culture war, and some will shine the most negative light on anything the opposing side do.

Taking a more charitable approach... is it possible those suggesting Brexit has allowed a quicker rollout aren't referring to regulations?

Perhaps the early rollout is facilitated by UK doing their own deals with vaccine manufacturers, rather than as as a package deal with EU (and thus having to wait for their slower and safer process). Is that it?

It's not a culture war. It is the war against barbarity, against fear, against xenophobia, against aggression, against ignorance. The same war as it always was. Choose.

In another comment in this post you say:

> Actually a deal is currently being negotiated to determine exactly how much they can tell us what to do, in return for avoiding the total destruction of our economy

"Total destruction"? The brexiteers aren't the only ones invoking fear.

That is exactly what is a culture war, as you assert a set of beliefs and perspectives ought to be warred against. The term culture war does not necessarily suggest equivalence, though of course both sides in your country use grandiose and reduced language. Here’s a quick summary of the term. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_war

> Choose.

If I must. Not yet - not quite yet.

"Whoever thinks I'm with them or against them, I'm against them."

No that's not it.

UK is getting this vaccine first because MHRA approved it before EMA did (and any EU country is allowed to use this shortcut that MHRA is so far the only one to have used), not because we have a deal to get it first.

"I'm not convinced that if [the UK] had been part of that European buying programme they'd have had quite the speed and flexibility to do it." -- Hugo Fry. (Pharma head, who happens to be a remain supporter.)

https://web.archive.org/web/20201203131008/https://www.teleg...

What leads you to such confidence in what looks like an uncertain matter?

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