LONDON: The University of Oxford vaccine against Covid-19 produced by AstraZeneca It is likely to get regulatory approval from the UK’s independent regulator later this year to begin rollout in early 2021, according to a UK media report.
The Medicines and Health Regulatory Agency (MHRA), formally tasked by the UK government last month with the phase-out process is expected after the jab emerged as ‘safe and effective’ against the novel coronavirus in trials in humans, authorize the vaccine by December 28 or 29 after final data is provided on Monday, ‘The Daily Telegraph’ cited high-level government sources as stating.
“MHRA authorization will also give confidence to countries around the world. India has already manufactured more than 50 million AstraZeneca vaccines, ”the newspaper notes.
In India, the vaccine is being produced as part of a partnership with the Serum Institute of India.
Health officials in the UK hope that the authorization of the Oxford jab will be a ‘game changer’, allowing vaccines to be transported and administered much more easily compared to the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, which must be stored at very temperatures. cold.
Oxford vaccine can be stored in normal refrigerators, but like Pfizer The vaccine also requires two doses, with a three-week interval between the two doses for Pfizer injections and a four-week interval for the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine.
Regulators have taken longer to evaluate the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, AZD1222, due to differences in efficacy rates found in different groups, ranging from 62 to 90 percent. However, a study published this week suggests that leaving adequate spacing between doses is the most crucial way to increase efficacy, the newspaper reports.
Although the first batch of 4 million doses will be delivered from the Netherlands and Germany, most of the manufacturing will take place in the UK.
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has said another 15 million doses of active ingredients are ready and can be filled into vials in a matter of days, the newspaper report added.
The entire order for 100 million doses, in addition to the 40 million doses of Pfizer doses imported from Belgium, is believed to be enough to vaccinate the entire UK.
The state-funded National Health Service (NHS), which is leading the UK’s mass vaccination campaign with the Pfizer vaccine, has drawn up plans for “large-scale” vaccination centers, in football stadiums, racetracks and conference centers to start giving injections the first week of January. The program will also expand to major pharmacies and other general practitioner (GP) practices.
The news of a second vaccine for the UK comes as the US licensed its second vaccine for emergency use against the deadly virus: Modern vaccine, and will soon begin rolling out thousands of doses alongside the Pfizer vaccine.
Meanwhile, the UK has been vaccinating the highest-risk categories of the population with the first of two doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine for more than two weeks, even as millions more across the country entered the measures of Toughest Covid-19 lockdown since Saturday. due to an increase in infection rates.
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris johnson called an unscheduled meeting of high-ranking ministers on Friday night for talks on a troubling new variant of the deadly virus, which has been spreading more rapidly throughout London and southeastern England.
“We have high hopes that we can prevent something like this. But the reality is that infection rates have risen a lot in recent weeks,” Johnson said, when asked about the prospect of another complete nationwide lockdown in the new year.
Earlier in the week, the four nations of the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) agreed not to reverse a change in the law that allows up to three households to meet during Christmas with relaxed rules between the 23rd and 27th. from December. but people are advised to keep their “Christmas bubbles” as small and short as possible.
The latest analysis suggests that the R number, which represents how many people each infected person transmits the virus, has once again surpassed the dreaded mark of one.
On Friday, the UK recorded another 28,507 cases, along with 489 deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test, bringing the country’s death toll to 66,541.
.
