Photographer: Owen Humphreys / PA Wire / Bloomberg
Photographer: Owen Humphreys / PA Wire / Bloomberg
Blockages in the UK may be eased in late February with the impending approval of a Covid-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca Plc will allow the vaccination of up to 15 million of the most vulnerable people in the country, the Mail report on Sunday.
The country’s health service will no longer be at risk of being overwhelmed by cases of viruses, once this limit is reached, the newspaper said. The vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca will be approved soon and launched across the UK from January 4, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
The United Kingdom became the first country in Western Europe to start vaccination, when began using the Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE vaccine on December 8. More than 600,000 people have been vaccinated by December 20. The government expects 2 million people to receive the first dose of one of the vaccines within two weeks of the January launch of the new shot, the Telegraph said.
The country was one of the hardest hit in Europe, with more than 70,000 deaths, most in the region after Italy. Much of the UK has been moved to the most severe Tier 4 restrictions, which prohibit domestic mixing and forced the closure of bars, restaurants and many businesses after the discovery of a more contagious strain of the virus earlier this month.
Read more: Why the UK’s Mutant Coronavirus is causing concern: QuickTake
The Sun Newspaper reported that regulators will approve the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine as early as December 28. Medicines and Health care The Product Regulatory Agency will need time to conduct a review of vaccine data, a health department spokesman said by email, without indicating when a decision would be made.
Read more: EU starts coordinated vaccine implementation after eliminating Pfizer vaccine
The AstraZeneca vaccine is easier to store and handle than Pfizer’s, helping efforts to reach people in isolated parts of the country. Approval was delayed due to discrepancies in the efficacy rates produced in the trials. Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, told the In the Sunday Times, new data will show that the vaccine has reached the 95% efficiency rate reported by Pfizer.
“We think we have found the winning formula and how to achieve effectiveness that, after two doses, is up to everyone,” he told the newspaper. “I can’t say any more because we are going to publish at some point.”
The Telegraph also said that mass vaccination centers in sports stadiums and conference venues are due to start in the second week of January. The newspaper said government officials will hold a pandemic meeting on Monday after scientists warned that school closures may be necessary to slow the spread of the new Covid-19 variant.
The rate of increase in the virus, known as the R number, is estimated at 1.1 to 1.3 on December 24, according to the latest government data. A reading above 1.0 indicates that the spread of the virus is accelerating. The UK reported an additional 34,693 cases and 210 deaths on 26 December.
(Updates with comments from AstraZeneca CEO of the sixth paragraph)