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Secretary of State for Health and Social Welfare Matt Hancock arrives for the weekly Cabinet Meeting at 10 Downing Street on May 21, 2019 in London, England.
Wiktor Szymanowicz / Barcroft Media via Getty Images
Human trials of a possible coronavirus vaccine will begin in the UK later this week.
British Health Minister Matt Hancock said Tuesday that a vaccine developed by researchers at the University of Oxford will be tested in people on Thursday.
“In normal times, reaching this stage would take years, and I am very proud of the work done so far,” he said at a daily press conference.
Hancock said he would make £ 20 million ($ 24.5 million) available to Oxford scientists, as well as an additional £ 22.5 million in funding for researchers from Imperial College London.
“None of this process is safe,” he said. “Vaccine development is a process of trial and error and try again.” “That is the nature of how vaccines are developed.”
Some have criticized the UK for being too slow in its response to the pandemic and for the lack of evidence and personal protective equipment.
An explosive report over the weekend claimed that Prime Minister Boris Johnson skipped five emergency meetings as the crisis unfolded. The Johnson government issued a long response to the article refuting the claims.
Britain has been blocked since March 23, and the government recently announced that it will extend those measures for at least another three weeks. Currently, people are only allowed to leave their homes for essential supplies, exercise and key work, while nonessential stores have been closed across the country.
The number of coronavirus deaths in the UK is now 16,509, according to Johns Hopkins University, while 125,856 have tested positive for the disease. The country has the sixth highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the world.
There are currently around 70 Covid-19 vaccines in development worldwide, while only a handful are being tested in humans.
