Expect Oxford Covid Jab to be ready for mass launch in a few weeks

The Oxford / AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine developed in the UK could be available by the end of the year, a scientist said.

Sarah Gilbert, a principal investigator with the Oxford Vaccine Development Program, said the chances that the jab would be ready to be administered within weeks were “pretty high.”

She said: “It depends on the age group you are in and the priorities of the JCVI (Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization). I think the chances are pretty high.

“But we need multiple vaccines, all countries need multiple vaccines, the world needs multiple vaccines, and we need vaccines made with different technologies, if that’s possible.”

“So having several shots on target, several irons on fire, is what we really need,” he added.

When asked how many people needed to be vaccinated for life to get back to normal, he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr program: “If we are trying to protect the most vulnerable, in this country we plan to immunize about 20 million people. according to age and also frontline health workers.

“And that would really have a big effect on getting hospitals back to normal. That won’t completely prevent transmission, but it should prevent hospitalizations and severe cases.

“And then to further reduce it in the community, we would need more people to be vaccinated, and it will be something we get the data on as we start to see the launch of the vaccine.”

Professor Gilbert added that the vaccine may offer greater protection against the spread of the disease.

She said: We have some information about the ability to prevent asymptomatic infections with our vaccine, and that will be really important to prevent transmission. So we know that as of 21 days after the first vaccination, none of those who received the vaccine were admitted to the hospital or had severe Covid disease.

“So we are seeing very strong protection against serious illness, people going to the hospital, and that’s the kind of thing that health services will protect.

“But of course we want to protect mild illnesses and have an effect on transmission, and preventing asymptomatic infections is part of that.”