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AstraZeneca has developed a candidate for the Covid-19 vaccine with Oxford University.
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The coronavirus vaccine developed by
AstraZeneca
and Oxford University is slated for approval in the UK, paving the way for widespread vaccines with a cheaper home-made shot that is easier to transport and store than other vaccines.
The UK Medicines and Medicines Regulatory Agency, the UK medicines regulator, will imminently authorize the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine for emergency use, according to reports from the Financial Times and The Telegraph The vaccine could be approved in a matter of days.
Shares of UK-based pharmaceutical pharmacy AstraZeneca traded up 3.3% on Tuesday in London.
The effectiveness of the vaccine is 90% when patients take half a dose, followed by a full dose. Two full doses taken one month apart resulted in a lower efficacy of 62%. When all results are calculated, this has dragged the overall efficiency up to 70%, compared to rivals, around 95%.
In an interview with the Sunday Times last weekend, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said: “We believe we have discovered the winning formula and how to achieve an effectiveness that, after two doses, is with everyone. the others. I can’t tell you more, because we’ll post at some point. “
Approval would come weeks after the United Kingdom became the first country to authorize a Covid-19 vaccine based on large-scale clinical trials, when it gave the green light to the U.S. drug maker’s shot.
Pfizer
and his German partner
BioNTech
on December 2nd.
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Approving the AstraZeneca vaccine and Oxford University could make a big difference in helping the UK fight the coronavirus pandemic and lift the severe restrictions on social distancing set before Christmas.
Michael Gove, a senior politician, told Sky News on Monday that if the vaccine is approved and the launch can be planned, harsh restrictions may be lifted.
About 24 million people in England, including all of London, now live under the strictest level of restrictions, including a “stay home” order. The United Kingdom on Tuesday recorded a record 53,135 new coronavirus cases.
If approved, AstraZeneca-Oxford University’s own production feature would give the UK capacity for vaccine production.
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The vaccine candidate is also cheaper and easier to transport and store than that of Pfizer and BioNTech. This vaccine should be kept at very low temperatures of -70 degrees Celsius (-94 degrees Fahrenheit), compared to the storage required by the British vaccine at normal refrigerator temperatures.
While the vaccine will soon be available in the UK, it could be February before it is approved in much of Europe.
Noël Wathion, the executive director of the European Medicines Authority, the European Union’s drug regulator, told the Belgian press on Tuesday that the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine was unlikely to be approved in the EU in the month next. Wathion said the pharmaceutical company had yet to file an application with the regulator.