AstraZeneca has recently confirmed that it is on a schedule of releasing its coronavirus vaccine by September.
The pharmaceutical company plans to produce 2 billion doses of coronavirus vaccine. It plans to start the distribution of 400 million doses in the U.S. and the U.K. in September. The remainder of the vaccines will arrive early next year.
AstraZeneca said that 1 billion doses of its coronavirus vaccine would be for low- and middle-income countries. It added that a licensing deal with the Serum Institute of India is already in place. The institute will be responsible for distributing the bulk of these vaccines.
AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine
AstraZeneca calls its vaccine AZD1222, and Oxford University is one of the first to develop it. The company said that it is working with international partners to fast track the manufacturing and distribution of the vaccine.
In a statement, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot stated:
“We believe we can get the vaccine to hundreds of millions of people around the world.”
One of the leading institutes to work on the development of AZD1222 is the Jenner Institute of Oxford University. It includes strains of protein taken from the SARS CoV-2 virus, a type of coronavirus similar to COVID-19.
The vaccine is currently under heavy scrutiny to prove its efficacy and whether it is safe for humans. A test involving 10,000 volunteers is currently ongoing, and AstraZeneca claims that the results are looking good.
In a press release, the company claims that the vaccines appear to be “safe and well-tolerated.”
To further provide broad and equitable access to @UniofOxford potential #COVID19 vaccine, we've signed agreements with @CEPIvaccines, @gavi & @SerumInstIndia to supply low-and-middle income countries and beyond https://t.co/eH6noEdiqC pic.twitter.com/w4PWNFdNw7
— AstraZeneca (@AstraZeneca) June 4, 2020
A global effort to fight the virus
AstraZeneca is just one of the many companies that are working to find a coronavirus vaccine. Recently, several governments and companies promise to donate $8.8 billion to Gavi, a global alliance working on a vaccine. Among the backers of the alliance are the Gates Foundation, China, France, the European Commission, and Spain.
As of this writing, at least 130 coronavirus vaccines are in various phases of testing and clinical trial. The World Health Organization is partnering with various private and public institutions to fast track the development of a vaccine.
As the world returns to some form of normalcy, experts believe that a coronavirus vaccine will promptly eradicate the virus. For now, the world has no choice but to wait.
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