LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th November, 2020) UK Housing, Community and Local Government Minister Robert Jenrick dismissed on Friday any public concern over the COVID-19 vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, after it was announced that it will undergo extra trials to assess its efficacy.
"I don't think there is any reason to be unduly concerned. We have now written to the body that will independently assess the veracity and the safety of the vaccine. We have to let the independent evaluation happen now," Jenrick told Sky news broadcaster.
On Monday, AstraZeneca released interim results of its candidate vaccine showing two different levels of efficacy depending on the dosing regimen. Efficacy in patients administered two full doses one month apart was 62 percent, while in those administered a half-dose and then a full dose it reached 90 percent. The company later admitted that the regimen with higher efficacy had actually been a result of a dosing mistake.
AstraZeneca CEO, Pascal Soriot, told Bloomberg that the Anglo-Swedish firm was likely to run additional trials of its vaccine candidate to validate its efficacy.
The UK government, which has pre-ordered 100 million doses of Oxford vaccine, confirmed on Thursday that it has formally asked the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to assess the vaccine candidate and determine if it meets safety standards.
