The UK is about to approve a COVID-19 vaccine that doctors say is effective in fighting the new variant of coronavirus spread around the world.
AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot told the Sunday Times that researchers say his vaccine is as effective as the 95% success rate promoted by rival drug developers. However, concerns have been expressed about the preliminary results of partial tests suggesting that AstraZeneca shooting is only about 70% effective in preventing COVID-19.
The new photo from AstraZeneca and Oxford University is easier to transport and store, giving the country another powerful tool to fight high infection rates there, three weeks after Britain became the first Western country to start vaccinations.
The vaccine could be approved by British drug regulators this week and available to the public in the first week of January.
“We think we have discovered the winning formula and how to get the effectiveness that, after two doses, is up there with everyone else,” Soriot told the newspaper. “I can’t tell you more because we’ll publish at some point.”
Regarding the effectiveness of the vaccine against the new mutation in the UK, Soriot told the Times: “So far, we believe that the vaccine should remain effective. But we can’t be sure, so we’ll test that. “
Hospitals in the UK are increasingly tense, as the country recorded more than 30,000 positive COVID-19 tests and 316 deaths caused by the virus on Sunday, bringing the death toll to 70,752.
By Christmas Eve, British health officials said more than 600,000 had received the first of two Pfizer vaccines.
Large-scale travel restrictions and public blockages could be eased by the end of February if the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is approved quickly and distributed to 15 million of Britain’s most vulnerable citizens, according to a report in the Mirror.
The UK has previously ordered 100 million doses of the drug.
With AP wires