The Oxford University vaccine against COVID-19 being produced by AstraZeneca is likely to get regulatory approval from the UK’s independent regulator by the end of this year for a rollout to begin in early 2021.
The Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which had been formally tasked by the UK government last month with the process of clearance after the jab emerged safe and effective against the novel coronavirus in human trials, is expected to authorize the vaccine by December 28 or 29 after the final data is provided on Monday.
Authorization by the MHRA will also give confidence to countries across the world. India has already manufactured more than 50 million of the AstraZeneca vaccines, the newspaper notes.
In India, the vaccine is being produced as part of a tie-up with the Serum Institute of India.
Health officials in the UK hope that the authorization of the Oxford jab will prove a game-changer, allowing vaccines to be transported and administered far more easily compared to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine which must be stored at very cold temperatures.
The Oxford vaccine can be stored in normal refrigerators but like the Pfizer vaccine, it also requires two doses with a three-week gap between the two doses for the Pfizer jabs and a four-week gap for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.
The Oxford/AstraZeneca, AZD1222, the vaccine has taken longer for regulators to assess because of differences in the efficacy rates found in different groups, ranging from 62 to 90 per cent.