The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, the “game changer” which will be rolled out in the UK from January 4 after being given the go ahead on Wednesday, will be “used to save lives across the world”, Sarah Gilbert, the university professor behind its design, has pledged.
“Now that the first authorisation of use of the vaccine outside of clinical trials has been granted we still have more to do, and will continue to provide more data to multiple regulatory authorities, until we are able to see the vaccine being used to save lives around the world,” emphasised Gilbert, who was optimistic from the start that vaccine developed by her team would work.
She added: “This is a day for the team developing the vaccine to celebrate, after a year of extremely hard work under difficult circumstances.”
AstraZeneca’s chief executive Pascal Soriot said: “Today is an important day for millions of people in the UK who will get access to this new vaccine. It has been shown to be effective, well-tolerated, simple to administer and is supplied by AstraZeneca at no profit.”
There is a pecking order for the vaccine, starting with people over 80, those in care homes and NHS staff.
People were also given an explanation of how the Oxford vaccine works to reassure those nervous of taking the jabs.
It is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus (known as an adenovirus) from chimpanzees. It has been modified to look more like the coronavirus — although it can’t cause illness.
When the vaccine is injected into a patient, it prompts the immune system to start making antibodies and primes it to attack any coronavirus infection.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is supposed to be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi, hailed the vaccine as a “triumph” for British science and promised that the government will now move to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible.
His health secretary Matt Hancock, whose job has often been on the line, predicted: “I’ve now got a very high degree of confidence that we can be out of this (Covid pandemic) by the spring… there is enough vaccine on order to vaccinate the whole population, excluding children.
“It is a tribute to the incredible UK scientists at Oxford University and AstraZeneca whose breakthrough will help to save lives around the world.”
The news comes at a time when the rate of infection from the mutant virus is so high that fleets of ambulances with Covid patients are queuing up at many over-stretched hospitals, with one consultant warning that “if ventilation capacity is exceeded, horrendous choices will have to be made over those who live and die”.
Monday’s infection tally of Covid cases, 41,385, the highest since the pandemic began, rose to 51,135 on Tuesday. What has caused the crisis is that some hospitals are getting to the point when they will be unable to admit any more patients.
Figures from NHS England showed there were 21,787 patients in NHS hospitals in England as of 8am on Tuesday, compared with 20,426 on Monday, and 18,974 at the first wave peak on April 12.
There has been a change of plan in the way the Oxford vaccine, given the green light by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), is administered. Instead of giving two injections three weeks apart, the idea now is to provide as many people as possible with some immunity by giving them the first jab, with the second 12 weeks later.
The point has already been made that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine can be stored in a standard fridge — unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech jab which needs cold storage at minus 70 degrees Celsius.
MPs back Brexit deal
British MPs approved Johnson’s post-Brexit trade deal with the EU on Wednesday, as both sides looked to begin a new chapter of relations just days before their divorce becomes a reality. Britain and the EU signed the deal on Wednesday and the UK House will finalise its implementation.
