No, it isn't a coincidence but you are mixing at least two things here: approval, purchase dates, purchasing power, roll out, administration of the jabs, etc.
On approval, I think most of those other countries will not have had the expertise that we had. Why do we have the expertise? Well, you might think that we have it:
- through our world-beating science frameworks (that are being damaged by Brexit);
- because much expertise still resides here, even though the EMA moved in 2019 (damaging the UK's skills base, power, and influence because of brexit); or
- because we were in the process of building up the MHRA, having been forced at great expense to reinvent the wheel after we brexited, and the government asked that their first priority should be to approve (if appropriate) the BioNTech/Pfizer jabs.
The last could be considered a good outcome of Brexit (but does not negate damage to the other two). If we go for the most brexit-rosy 'answer', then they have now approved two jabs. That is good news. Let's see if they can keep up with all those medicines that are forthcoming, and also whether they have been neglecting other tasks. In any case, the MHRA is replacing a more powerful organisation with greater capacity, and jobs that we already had in the UK that has since moved away definitely because of brexit.