Following the approval of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine last year, in late December, the UK regulator, the Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), approved the Oxford / AstraZeneca University vaccine for use in the United Kingdom. Health Secretary Matt Hancock described the vaccine’s approval as a “big step forward” for the UK’s fight against coronavirus, and said vaccines are the “route out of the pandemic”.
In clinical trials, the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine showed a strong immune response in adults of all ages.
The Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine has a good safety record and has shown 70.4% effectiveness in testing.
The vaccine was developed by scientists at AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, and the United Kingdom was the first in the world to sign an agreement for the vaccine.
The approval of the Oxford vaccine was significant for the effort to implant the vaccine in the United Kingdom, as the United Kingdom government ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine – enough to vaccinate 50 million people with two doses.
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Specialized centers in Wales and Germany divide the vaccine into vials ready for distribution.
When the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine was approved by the UK regulator last year, the government noted its investment in a £ 100 million vaccine manufacturing facility.
The government said: “The UK government has invested £ 100 million to finance a state-of-the-art manufacturing innovation center in Braintree, Essex, in collaboration with Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, to accelerate the mass production of a Covid’s successful 19 vaccine in the UK.
“With opening scheduled for December 2021, the Center will be able to produce millions of doses of vaccines every month, ensuring that the UK has the capacity to manufacture advanced vaccines and medicines, including for emerging diseases, in the distant future.”