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Life could return to normal in late spring, said the Dublin scientist who is leading the work on the Oxford vaccine.
Professor Adrian Hill’s words of hope come at a time when the Government plans to implement a Covid-19 vaccine for 1 million of the country’s most vulnerable people in the coming months.
And while only 51% of people say they will get the Covid-19 vaccine once it is widely available, Professor Hill believes more people will do so once one is actually on the market.
Last week, it was announced that the Oxford AstraZeneca jab has been shown to be up to 90% effective in preventing Covid-19.
It has worked particularly well in larger groups, and there is also hope from clinical trials that the vaccine could also prevent transmission of the virus.
Health systems around the world have pre-ordered more than 3 billion doses of the Oxford vaccine.
It joins the Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines as all three hope to be commercially available soon once regulatory approval is granted.
Professor Hill, originally from Ranelagh, South Dublin, said he hopes the vaccine his team has been developing at the Jenner Institute in Oxford will mean that life can return to normal in late spring or early summer. .
Professor Hill told Miriam O’Callaghan of RTÉ Radio 1: “The truth is that it is a very safe vaccine that can be manufactured on a scale that no other vaccine is trying to achieve, and it is impressively effective.
“So we are looking forward to moving forward with this and making it available as soon as we can.
“We will see something close to normal, hopefully, in late spring or early summer.”
His words of hope come as the Irish government plans to vaccinate more than 1 million of the country’s most vulnerable people.
The state hopes to do this in the coming months, with the possibility that the most vulnerable or at risk could receive the jab next month, the Sunday Independent reported yesterday.
The National Vaccine Task Force is working on plans to implement the vaccine, assuming it could be delivered to Ireland by the end of next month.
Once on the market, members of the public could receive the vaccine at their GP or a community center, although priority will be given to healthcare workers and the most vulnerable.
The task force will publish its plans on December 11.
Meanwhile, only 51% of the population say they would be interested in receiving the vaccine once it is available, according to a survey by the Irish Pharmacy Union.
And 24% said that while they would take advantage of the jab, they wouldn’t do it right away.
But Professor Hill believes that many people will be interested in receiving the Covi-19 vaccine, once it is available.
He said: “I don’t think we will ever vaccinate the entire population with anything because people should be free to decide whether or not to get vaccinated.
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“But I think we will all be a bit surprised by how many people do want to get vaccinated when this vaccine is widely available.
“And we have taken this into account when estimating the number of doses that we will need.”
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