The UK has a “ray of hope” because of the new Oxford University / AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, an expert recently told CNN.
Lawrence Young, a virologist and professor of molecular oncology at the University of Warwick, told CNN that the vaccine offers a “ray of hope” as the virus continues to spread throughout Europe.
Context
The UK became the first country to approve the COVID-19 vaccine from the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca on Wednesday, as I wrote to Deseret News.
- The new vaccine is “a cheap, easy-to-store injection that much of the world will count on to help end the pandemic,” according to The New York Times.
What about the United States?
The United States is unlikely to receive the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine until April due to doubts about its effectiveness, said Moncef Slaoui, chief of Operation Warp Speed, according to the Politico.
- The concern specifically involves how the vaccine will affect risk groups.
- “We project, if all goes well, that reading and emergency use authorization may be granted somewhere in early April,” said Slaoui on Wednesday by Politico.
- “With regard to the American people, I think it is important to say that one vaccine is 95% effective, another vaccine is X%, whatever that number is,” said Slaoui. “We need a clear and concrete number more than a number that is accumulated by adding different tests with different schedules and different materials.