The coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford and AstraZeneca could be soon administered to people in Britain as late-stage trial data could be available by the end of this year. If the late-stage trials give a positive indication, Britain could rollout the vaccine for masses by December or early 2021, reported news agency Reuters.
India, too, is waiting for the late-stage trial results of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine as it plans to follow Britain’s suit if things move in the right direction.
Speaking recently to India Today TV, Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla said that Oxford’s vaccine could be available in India soon after final trials are completed in January, provided it gets all necessary approvals.
Britain prepares rollout
While over 200 vaccine candidates are being developed around the world against the novel coronavirus, Oxford-AstraZeneca’s vaccine seems to be ahead in the race and has been considered as a frontrunner.
Oxford Vaccine Trial Chief Investigator Andrew Pollard told news agency Reuters that he is optimistic that the trial results will be out before the end of the year. Pollard has reportedly told British lawmakers that there is a strong possibility that the vaccine’s potential will be established by the end of the year.
The results will then need to be reviewed by drug regulators in the UK, following which a political decision can be made on rolling out the vaccine.
“Our bit - we are getting closer to but we are not there yet,” Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said.
While he was unsure if the vaccine would be available for public by Christmas, he did say that there is a “small chance of that being possible”.
It may be noted that the National Health Services (NHS) in England is preparing to start distributing the vaccine before Christmas if one candidate is ready by December.
Oxford and AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine is one of the frontrunners to receive regulatory approval along with Pfizer and BioNTech’s candidate.
India may follow suit
If Britain gives regulatory approval for the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine by the end of this year, there are chances that it would be approved for use in India soon after in January.
Earlier in an interview with India Today TV, SII CEO Adar Poonawalla had said that there are good chances that Oxford’s Covid-19 vaccine trials in India will be completed by January.
“We have already given the first dose to most of the patients in the trial, which is more than a 1,000 already. The total trial is for 1,600 patients in India. Then we will give the second dose and then and then analyse them for safety and efficacy,” Poonawalla said in an interview a few days ago.
“That’s why I say January to be absolutely safe for India. Then again, we have to wait till all the data comes in from the UK to collate that together and then the Indian drug controller will have enough data to decide which way to go and when to license the product,” he added.
His comments suggest that approval for Oxford and AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine will depend on whether it gets approval in the UK after regulators review the late-stage trial data.
It may be noted that the vaccine is producing a good immune response among volunteers who have got it in both India and the UK.
“The data is very good. If the UK goes into emergency licensure, it will be up to the government of India to then decide and take a call after analysing that data to determine whether we follow suit in about a month as well,” Poonawalla said earlier.
Australia signs 2 more Covid-19 vaccine deals
In other vaccine-related news, Australia has signed deals to acquire doses of two more potential coronavirus vaccines, reported news agency Reuters. According to the report, Australia has signed deals to buy 40 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines from Novavax and 10 million from Pfizer and BioNTech.
Australia had already signed deals with AstraZeneca and CSL Limited for a total of nearly 85 million vaccine doses in September. Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the government is on track to roll out the coronavirus vaccines in the country from March next year.