By Triumph for British science as Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine approved
The vaccine, codenamed AZD1222 or ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, was developed at Oxford University with support from the British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and given the go-ahead by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
A first dose of the jab gives around 70% effectiveness from three weeks after immunisation, according to the MHRA and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
There will be 530,000 doses available from next week, and vaccination centres will start inviting patients to come and get the jab.
Priority groups for immunisation have already been identified, as previously, starting with care home residents, the over-80s, and health and care workers.
UK has ordered 100 million doses of the new vaccine – enough to vaccinate 50 million people.
Whilst speaking in the Commons, Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, stated that:
“It’s very good news for accelerating the vaccine rollout”.
“It brings forward the day we can get our lives back to normal”.
Boris Johnson has hailed the latest vaccine development as a triumph for British science, saying:
“We will now move to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible”.
It is hoped that about two million patients a week could soon be vaccinated with two vaccines now approved.
“The magic phrase is transmission,” he stated.
Later adding:
“I think we can be confident and we will know quite quickly within a matter of a couple of months the impact of these vaccines on reducing severe illness in the population”.
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