The Government has today (Nov 27) asked the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to assess whether the supply Oxford vaccine can be approved.
To be approved the vaccine must meet at the UK’s standards of safety, efficacy and quality, which if matched will be a huge first step to getting the vaccine rolled out to the wider public, and a step closer to defeating coronavirus.
The UK will be one of the first countries in the world to secure this vaccine if it is approved, with 4 million doses expected in 2020 and 40 million by March 2021.
The vaccine, which is approximately 90% effective in certain circumstances, has already have 100 million orders placed by the UK government, almost enough to vaccinate the whole UK population.
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:
“We are working tirelessly to be in the best possible position to deploy a vaccine as soon as one is approved by the independent regulator, the MHRA.
“We have formally asked the regulator to assess the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, to understand the data and determine whether it meets rigorous safety standards. This letter is an important step towards deploying a vaccine as quickly as safely possible.”
