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The Oxford vaccine could be rolled out across the UK within the next fifteen days, as the company’s director raised hopes of the jab’s “winning formula”.
The government is aiming for mass vaccination centers to start administering patients with the Oxford / AstraZeneca or Pfizer puncture from January 4, the Sunday Telegraph said, as the new variant of the coronavirus that was first found in the UK continues to spread around the world.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) could reportedly approve the homegrown jab in a few days, and millions of people are ready to start receiving the jab early next month.
It comes as the AstraZeneca boss said he believed the researchers had found the “winning formula” using two doses and promised to publish the results.
“We believe that we have discovered the winning formula and how to achieve an efficacy that, after two doses, is on par with all the others,” Pascal Soriot told The Sunday Times. “I can’t tell you more because we will publish at some point.”
Amid the rapid spread of the UK strain of virus to several other countries, he added: “Until now, we believe that the vaccine should remain effective. But we can’t be sure, so let’s test that. “
On Christmas Eve, the Department of Health and Social Assistance said that more than 600,000 people had received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, but the rollout in nursing homes has been limited to seven areas.
He added that larger nursing homes with 50 to 70 beds would be prioritized first, with around 2,900 nursing homes of this size in England.
But Chancellor Rishi Sunak praised the vaccination efforts so far, telling the Mail on Sunday: “There will be difficult days and months ahead, but there are reasons to look to a better future and what 2021 holds.
“The early launch of vaccines, and the incredible work of our scientists and the NHS, means that we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel with this pandemic.”
However, the medical unions and the Labor Party criticized the government’s handling of the program, saying it had not made sufficient progress in nursing homes.
Nadra Ahmed, president of the National Care Association, told the Sunday Mirror that the implementation of Pfizer / BioNTech was going to be “difficult” but added: “It is another case of the massive overpromise of something that just cannot be delivered. It is constant. “.
And Labor Party shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth told the newspaper there was a “race against time” to vaccinate enough people and urged the government to avoid what it said were “the same mistakes again.” being “too slow” to protect the residents of the nursing home. – a veiled reference to PPE and hospital discharge.
The new variant, blamed for rising rates across the country ahead of the broader imposition of stricter Tier 4 measures in parts of England on December 26, continues to drive high case rates with another 34,693 reported. Saturday.
Cases of the variant strain have been confirmed in Europe, including France, Spain, Denmark, Italy, Iceland, Switzerland, Sweden, and the Netherlands, as well as worldwide in Australia, Japan, and Lebanon.
Dr. Barbara Yaffe, associate medical director for the Canadian province of Ontario, said the first two confirmed cases were a couple from the Durham region of the country with no known travel history, exposure or high-risk contacts.
People living in Ontario, such as those in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and much of England, are now living under lockdown measures designed to slow the spread of the virus.
In Wales, the Cardiff and Vale University Board of Health issued an appeal on social media asking for “help from medical students or other groups of staff who have previously supported patients in distress,” the process in which people face forward to help with breathing.
More than six million people in the east and south east of England entered the highest level of restrictions, which now affects 24 million people representing 43% of the population.
The areas that moved to Level 4 are Sussex, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, parts of Essex not yet at the highest level, Waverley in Surrey and Hampshire with the exception of the New Forest.
Level 4 restrictions include a stay-at-home warning, a limit on domestic mixing for two people outdoors, and forcing many stores, barber shops and gyms to close.
The measures are in addition to Level 3 restrictions such as pub and restaurant closures, except for takeout and delivery.
Mainland Scotland entered Level 4 restrictions from Saturday, and the Scottish government intends the increased measures to last for three weeks.
In Northern Ireland, the first week’s measures are the toughest yet, with a form of curfew in place starting at 8pm, shops closed from that time, and all indoor and outdoor gatherings prohibited until 6 am
Nonessential retail will close for the next six weeks, as will close contact services, while hospitality outlets will be limited to take-out services.
