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A Covid-19 vaccine from the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca has been approved for use in the UK, paving the way for mass deployment.
The jab, which has been described as a “game changer,” received a green light from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
The UK has ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine, enough to vaccinate 50 million people.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Welfare said: “The Government has today accepted the recommendation of the Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to authorize the use of the Covid-19 vaccine from the University of Oxford / AstraZeneca.
“This follows rigorous clinical trials and a comprehensive analysis of the data by MHRA experts, which has concluded that the vaccine has met its strict standards for safety, quality and efficacy.”
Data published in the medical journal The Lancet in early December showed that the vaccine was 62% effective in preventing Covid-19 among a group of 4,440 people who received two standard doses of the vaccine compared to 4,455 people who received a placebo drug.
Of 1,367 people who received half of the first dose of the vaccine followed by a second full dose, there was 90% protection against Covid-19 compared to a control group of 1,374 people.
The Lancet general data, which were peer-reviewed, present the complete results of clinical trials of more than 20,000 people.
Among the people who received the placebo drug, ten were admitted to the hospital with coronavirus, including two with severe Covid that resulted in one death.
But among those who received the vaccine, there were no hospital admissions or serious cases.
The half dose followed by a full dose regimen occurred as a result of accidental dosing error.
However, the MHRA was informed of what had happened and clinical trials of the vaccine were allowed to continue.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the approval of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine is a “great British success story.”
He told Times Radio: “This is a great British success story and the reason it matters so much is that this vaccine is easy to administer, it just needs to be stored at normal refrigerator temperature so that we can take it directly to doctors in Headboard”. surgeries, in nursing homes, and critically we have 100 million doses on the way for everyone to get vaccinated.
“Because of the way it was approved, because the second dose is only needed after 12 weeks, it means that we can accelerate the launch of this.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed the development as a “triumph for British science.”
It is truly fantastic news, and a triumph for British science, that the @UniofOxford /@AstraZeneca The vaccine has been approved for use.
Now we will proceed to vaccinate as many people as possible as soon as possible. pic.twitter.com/cR4pRdZJlT
– Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) December 30, 2020
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In an interview with the Sunday Times, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot suggested that additional data presented to the regulator showed that the vaccine could match the 95% efficacy achieved by the Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
“We believe we have discovered the winning formula and how to achieve efficacy that, after two doses, is on par with all the others,” he said.
On Monday, Calum Semple, a professor of outbreak medicine at the University of Liverpool and a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), described the vaccine as a “game changer” but said it would take until the summer to vaccinate enough people for herd immunity: when the virus has difficulty circulating.
“To gain herd immunity from the general community from vaccination rather than through natural infection, it will probably take 70% to 80% of the population to get vaccinated, and that, I’m afraid, will take us straight to summer, I hope, “he said.
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