The Government has announced that if a coronavirus vaccine is successful, 30 million doses could be available as soon as September for the UK. Business Secretary Alok Sharma revealed to the daily briefing that a deal had been confirmed for the commercialisation and manufacturing of the vaccine currently being trialled at Oxford University. Professor Peter Openshaw, who is part of the Imperial College London trials, spoke to Sky News about the likelihood of their vaccine being ready by September.
He said: “I think there may well be a vaccine emerging from the pack which is more effective than the others.
“This is team science around the globe, there are many different groups working on different types of vaccine.
“We’re fortunate in the UK to have made long term investments in vaccine and in immunology work.
“This is coming through in terms of having leading candidates being developed in the UK.”
He continued: “Professor Sarah Gilbert from Oxford has certainly one of the most promising coming out of Oxford.
“So that’s very exciting, but I think until we really get into the human studies and see whether the vaccine is actually preventing people getting sick, we’re a little way off from actually having a vaccine that’s going to prevent disease in countries like our own, let alone for the rest of the world.
“Remember that there are more than seven billion people around the globe who need to be vaccinated to make sure that we can get this disease under control.
“So it’s a huge programme and I do hope it will be good news.”
The Government has committed huge sums to developing a vaccine in the UK.
However, Mr Sharma warned there are no certainties: “In spite of the tireless efforts of our scientists, it is possible we may never find a successful coronavirus vaccine.
“So we also need to look at other drug treatments and therapeutics for those who get the virus.”
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Oxford University has finalised a global licensing agreement with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.
This could mean that the UK will be the first to gain access to the vaccine.
Mr Sharma told the daily briefing: “This means that if the vaccine is successful, AstraZeneca will work to make 30 million doses available by September for the UK.
“This is part of an agreement of over 100 million doses in total. The UK will be first to get access.
“We can also ensure that in addition to supporting people here in the UK, we’re able to make the vaccine available to developing countries at the lowest possible cost.”
However, some have warned the vaccine being developed fails to halt the spread of the virus.
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