UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is optimistic about the COVID-19 vaccine. Commenting on the progress of the COVID-19 vaccine, Johnson told on Monday, it felt like an AstraZeneca project must be on the verge of one.
“I went to see the scientists at Oxford at the Jenner Institute, the AstraZeneca team — incredible what they’re doing. You know you feel they must be on the verge of it, but its got to be properly tested,” Johnson said.
Will the world have a ‘safe and effective’ vaccine against novel coronavirus by the end of this year?
According to reports, the COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by the University of Oxford scientists in collaboration with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is the farthest in the process of trials. By Christmas in December this year, it is reported that it could be given the required clearances.
The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is said to be in a position to begin mass vaccination almost immediately if it gets approved by the regulators.
It could take six months or less after the approval for a full vaccine roll-out program for adults according to sources. “We are looking at closer to six months and it is likely to be far shorter than that,” a government source said.
The UK government has ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford vaccine once it is ready for roll-out and the doses are being manufactured before it is successful to save time once it clears all the regulatory stages.
Serum Institute of India has started the final stage of the clinical trial of the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca Plc.’s experimental vaccine in India last month. Pune-based drug maker signed a deal with British-Swedish Company AstraZeneca to manufacture the COVID-19 vaccine candidate, developed by the University of Oxford for low-and-middle-income countries.
Over 1,600 candidates aged between 18 to 55, participated in the Phase II clinical trial of the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine in India. COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by the Jenner Institute, a part of the Nuffield Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford, showed a positive result in its initial trial.
According to a report published in the British medical journal, The Lancet, the COVID-19 vaccine produced a dual immune response in people aged 18 to 55.
