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LONDON (REUTERS) – Britain on Wednesday (December 30) became the first country in the world to approve a coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca as it battles a large winter surge fueled by a highly novel variant. contagious virus.
AstraZeneca said the authorization was for a two-dose regimen and that the vaccine had been approved for use as an emergency supply.
Britain ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine.
“The government has today accepted the recommendation of the Regulatory Agency for Medicines and Health Products to authorize the use of the Covid-19 vaccine from the University of Oxford-AstraZeneca,” the Health Ministry said.
The pandemic has already killed 1.7 million people worldwide, wreaked havoc on the global economy and disrupted the normal lives of billions since it began in Wuhan, China, a year ago.
Britain and South Africa in particular are grappling with new variants of the coronavirus, which the government and scientists say are more contagious; many countries have responded by banning passenger flights and blocking trade.
AstraZeneca and other developers have said that they are studying the impact of the new variant, but hope that their shots will be effective against it.
The regulatory backing is a welcome boost for AstraZeneca and the Oxford team, who have been accused of a lack of clarity on late-stage trial results.
Pooled results from those trials show that the overall efficacy was 70.4 percent. Efficacy was 62 percent for trial participants who received two full doses, but 90 percent for a smaller subgroup who received half doses and then a full dose.
The researchers said the finding of 90 percent efficacy for the low-dose-high-dose regimen needed further investigation.
AstraZeneca did not specify which dose regimen had been approved.
“Today is an important day for millions of people in the UK who will have access to this new vaccine,” said AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot. “It has been shown to be effective, well tolerated, easy to administer and is supplied by AstraZeneca on a non-profit basis.”
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