The COVID-19 vaccine developed in Britain by Oxford University and AstraZeneca has been approved by the U.K. government for emergency use, the pharmaceutical company announced early Wednesday morning. Approval of the vaccine, which is much cheaper to produce, transport and store than the other vaccines already approved in the U.K. and the U.S., will be a welcome weapon in the fight against the coronavirus as infections surge on both sides of the Atlantic.
The British Department of Health and Social Care confirmed in a statement that it had “accepted the recommendation from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to authorize Oxford University/AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine for use. This follows rigorous clinical trials and a thorough analysis of the data by experts at the MHRA, which has concluded that the vaccine has met its strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.”
The first doses of the vaccine were to be administered “early in the new year” in Britain, according to AstraZeneca.
AstraZeneca was still awaiting emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as of Wednesday. Two other vaccines, made by American pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna, are already being administered in the U.S., and the Pfizer vaccine is also being given to health care workers and those most at risk of serious COVID-19 cases in the U.K.
“This is a moment to celebrate British innovation,” U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said in a statement on Wednesday. “This vaccine will be made available to some of the poorest regions of the world at a low cost, helping protect countless people from this awful disease. It is a tribute to the incredible U.K. scientists at Oxford University and AstraZeneca whose breakthrough will help to save lives around the world.”
Britain is facing a surge in new infections, blamed in large part on a new variant of the coronavirus first discovered in southeast England but which has now appeared in the U.S. The variant, called B.1.1.7, is believed to be more easily transmitted from person to person but officials say there’s no evidence it causes more serious disease.
Scientists with Pfizer, Moderna, and Oxford and AstraZeneca have voiced optimism that their vaccines will be effective against the new variant of the coronavirus, but they are all awaiting confirmation through ongoing trials.
Hancock warned that, “while it is a time to be hopeful,” it remains “vital” for members of the public to “play their part to drive down infections” by following public health guidelines to socially distance and wear face masks.
The Oxford vaccine requires two doses, but unlike the other two major vaccines already being administered in the U.S. which need the shots to come about three weeks apart, the second dose of the Oxford vaccine can be given within about 12 weeks. Hancock said that longer window to give the second dose would be “very helpful” in facilitating mass-vaccination efforts.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson celebrated Britain’s second COVID-19 vaccine approval with a tweet, calling it “fantastic news — and a triumph for British science,” and vowing to inoculate “as many people as quickly as possible.”
