The United Kingdom must approve a COVID-19 vaccine that manufacturers say is effective in combating the new variant of the coronavirus that is spreading around the world.
AstraZeneca Chief Executive Pascal Soriot told the Sunday Times that researchers say his vaccine is as effective as the 95 percent success rate touted by rival drug developers. However, concerns have been raised about the results of the preliminary partial test that suggest that the AstraZeneca injection is only about 70 percent effective in preventing COVID-19.
The new injection from AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford is easier to transport and store, potentially giving the country another powerful tool to fight rising infection rates there, three weeks after the UK became the first western country to start the vaccines.
The vaccine could be approved by British drug regulators this week and made available to the public in the first week of January.
“We think we have found the winning formula and how to achieve effectiveness that, after two doses, is up to everyone,” Soriot told the newspaper. “I can’t say any more because we are going to publish at some point.”
Regarding the effectiveness of the vaccine against the new mutation in the UK, Soriot told the Times: “So far, we think the vaccine must remain effective. But we can’t be sure, so let’s try this out. “
Hospitals in the UK are increasingly tense, as the country recorded more than 30,000 positive COVID-19 tests and 316 deaths from the virus on Sunday, bringing its death toll to 70,752.
On Christmas Eve, British health officials said more than 600,000 received the first of two doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
Widespread travel restrictions and public blockages can be eased by the end of February if the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is approved quickly and distributed to a limit of 15 million of the UK’s most vulnerable citizens, according to a report in the Mirror.
Britain has ordered 100 million doses of the drug.
Wired AP