UK Health Secretary Calls Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Results 'Encouraging'

UK Health Secretary Calls Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Results 'Encouraging'

The results from trials conducted on AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford's candidate vaccine against the coronavirus disease, which had an average efficacy of 70 percent, are "really encouraging," UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Monday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd November, 2020) The results from trials conducted on AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford's candidate vaccine against the coronavirus disease, which had an average efficacy of 70 percent, are "really encouraging," UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Monday.

"This is really encouraging news on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine that obviously we've been backing since the start and I'm really very pleased, really welcome these figures, this data, that show that the vaccine, in the right dosage, can be up to 90 percent effective," Hancock told the Sky News broadcaster.

The health secretary added that it was "vital" the UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency examines the data in order to verify its accuracy and reliability.

Earlier in the day, AstraZeneca published the findings from an interim analysis of clinical trials on the vaccine, named AZD1222, conducted in the United Kingdom and Brazil.

The pharmaceutical giant said that one dosing regimen, which saw participants given a half dose of the vaccine followed by a full dose one month later, was 90 percent effective. Another dosing regimen, which saw participants given two full doses one month apart, was recorded as being 62 percent effective.

AstraZeneca added that the candidate vaccine can be stored, transported, and handled at normal refrigerated conditions, unlike a vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech, which has to be stored at roughly minus 103 degrees Fahrenheit.

The UK government back in May concluded a purchase order for 100 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. In early November, Kate Bingham, the head of the UK government's vaccine task force, said that AstraZeneca had missed its target of delivering 30 million doses of its vaccine by the end of September.

On Sunday, 18,662 new positive tests for COVID-19 were registered in the United Kingdom, taking the country's case total above 1.5 million, according to data published by the Department of Health and Social Care.