The Oxford COVID-19 vaccine will be distributed throughout the United Kingdom as of January 4 if it is approved, according to a report in the Sunday Telegraph.
The British government has set a goal to vaccinate two million people in two weeks after the start of distribution.
The plan includes doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, according to the Telegraph.
ARCHIVE – This Saturday, July 18, 2020, photo archive an overview of AstraZeneca’s offices and the corporate logo in Cambridge, England. AstraZeneca says that the final stage tests of its COVID-19 vaccine were “highly effective” in preventing diseases. A vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford prevented 70% of people from developing coronavirus in final-stage tests, the team reported Monday, November 23, 2020. (AP Photo / Alastair Grant, Archive)
The Oxford vaccine is expected to be approved by the UK Medicines and Health Regulatory Agency in the coming days.
The first tests of the Oxford vaccine found that it was less effective than the already approved Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which have reported 95% and 94.5% effectiveness so far.
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AstraZeneca Chief Executive Pascal Soriot has raised hopes for the vaccine, promising to publish an article describing how the vaccine works with two doses.
“We think we have found the winning formula and how to achieve effectiveness that, after two doses, is up to everyone,” Soriot told the Sunday Times.
The Department of Health, however, said regulators should take the time to review the results of the Oxford vaccine.
“We must now give the MHRA time to do its important work and we must wait for its advice,” a Department of Health spokeswoman told Reuters.
The growing number of hospitalizations across the country, in part due to a variant that spreads 70% faster than previous variants of the coronavirus.
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In a leaked memo, NHS medical director Steve Powis ordered hospitals to be on high alert for the new variant and the South African variety.