Oxford on verge of Covid-19 vaccine, possibly by year end - UK PM

Commenting on the progress of Oxford university's Covid-19 vaccine, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson hoped the world would have a "safe and effective" vaccine against novel coronavirus by the end of this year.

"I went to see the scientists at Oxford at the Jenner Institute, the AstraZeneca team — incredible what they're doing. You know you really feel they must be on the verge of it, but its got to be properly tested," Johnson said, reports the Live Mint.

The Covid-19 vaccine candidate developed by the University of Oxford scientists in collaboration with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is the furthest in the process of trials, according to a report by The Times magazine.

It could be given the required clearances by Christmas in December, the newspaper reported.

If it is approved by the regulators, the UK's National Health Service (NHS) is said to be in a position to begin mass vaccination almost immediately. A full vaccine roll-out programme for adults could take six months or less after approval.

"We are looking at closer to six months and it is likely to be far shorter than that," a government source said.

The UK government has ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford vaccine once it is ready for roll-out and the doses are being manufactured before it has been shown to be successful in order to save time once it clears all the regulatory stages.

Serum Institute of India started the final stage of the clinical trial of University of Oxford and AstraZeneca Plc.'s experimental vaccine in India last month.

The Pune-based drug maker signed a deal with British-Swedish company AstraZeneca to manufacture Covid-19 vaccine candidate, developed by the University of Oxford for low-and-middle income countries. Over 1,600 candidates aged 18 to 55, participated in the Phase II clinical trial of Oxford Covid-19 vaccine in India.

Covid-19 vaccine candidate developed by the Jenner Institute, a part of the Nuffield Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford, showed a positive result in its initial trial.

According to a report published in the British medical journal, The Lancet, the Covid-19 vaccine produced a dual immune response in people aged 18 to 55.