Oxford’s vaccine to be approved before New Year

The Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine, for which Bangladesh has long been waiting, is likely to get final approval from the UK health authorities within days of Christmas.

Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency, the health and social care body of the UK government, is believed to authorize the vaccine on 28 or 29 December after receiving final data by the regulator on Monday, Daily Mail reports quoting Whitehall sources.

The health experts came up with an optimism that millions of people will be inoculated within days after the approval.

Considering the prospects of early availability, easy storage and transportation, Bangladesh is looking for only Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

An agreement was been signed few months ago between Bangladesh's Beximco Pharmaceuticals and India's Serum Institute, for bringing in the vaccine at earliest possible time.

According to the Daily Mail report, the MHRA is waiting for the final data from the Oxford scientists, which will be provided on Monday.

An MHRA spokesman said after the reports that its review is 'ongoing' and did not contradict the approval timeframe.  

The latest positive sign comes after Professor Sarah Gilbert, the lead researcher behind the new vaccine, said on Friday that she hoped the jab 'isn't too far off' from being approved.

And Professor Martin Marshall, the chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said on Saturday morning that the Oxford jab will allow the vaccination process to happen at a 'much faster pace'.

More than 140,000 Britons have already received the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, after it was approved by the MHRA earlier this month, but it needs to be stored at around -70, whereas the Oxford vaccine can be kept at room temperature.

However, there are increasing fears England could be about to enter a third lockdown after Mr Johnson refused to rule out the drastic step.

Latest figures from the Department of Health show there are 18,469 patients in hospital with coronavirus, the highest number since mid-April.  

Once the Oxford vaccine - which was produced with the backing of private firm AstraZeneca - is approved, football stadia and race courses nationwide will open from the first week of January to allow mass vaccinations, the Telegraph said in their report.

It means that as many as 20million of the most vulnerable Britons could have been vaccinated by March, allowing for some restrictions to be relaxed.

The UK has ordered 100million doses of the Oxford vaccine, allowing for a major expansion of the NHS's vaccination programme.

Other countries which have ordered the jab will receive a confidence boost if it is approved by the respected MHRA.

The first batch of four million doses of the Oxford vaccine will be delivered from the Netherlands and Germany.

Although the new jab will mostly be manufactured in the UK, making it easier to roll-out.

The 100million doses, plus the 40million of the Pfizer vaccine which have already begun being rolled out, will be enough to vaccinate the whole country. 

Both vaccines need two doses but there is a three-week gap for the Pfizer one and a four-week gap for the AstraZeneca vaccine. 

The MHRA has taken longer to approve the new vaccine because volunteers in the clinical trial received different doses. 

A spokesman said on Saturday: 'Our rolling review of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is ongoing.

'Our process for approving vaccines is designed to make sure that any Covid-19 vaccine authorised meets the expected high standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.

'Any vaccine must undergo robust clinical trials in line with international standards, with oversight provided by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), and no vaccine would be authorised for supply in the UK unless the expected standards of safety, quality and efficacy are met.'

More than 9,000 received two full doses of the jab - a regimen that was 62 per cent effective against the virus - but a further 3,000 received a half dose and a full dose - which results suggest was 90 per cent effective.

The second group, however, is smaller and included no one who is over 50 and more at risk from the virus - making it hard to determine which regimen is best. 

Other data also suggests the two full-doses provoke a better immune response.