AstraZeneca says that the vaccine for the ongoing new variant of COVID-19 may take around six more months to arrive publicly.
According to The Guardian, the vaccine for the new COVID-19 variant could take six more months, says AstraZeneca, because an effective vaccine will take longer to arrive to make an impact against the Coronavirus infected individuals.
The company’s current vaccine is already available for public use. It was jointly developed with scientists at the University of Oxford.
AstraZeneca vaccine and its effectiveness
The current vaccine is said to be effective, at least against one variant of the virus. It was first discovered in Kent, England. An extended period of six months might undoubtedly result in a more robust version of the next vaccine.
The specialty of AstraZeneca is that it’s essential for developing countries. And that’s why in comparison with Pfizer, it’s significantly cheaper also because it doesn’t require shallow temperature during transportation.
On Thursday, the vaccine maker also announced its 2020’s financial results and said:
“In collaboration with the University of Oxford, AstraZeneca is focused on adapting C19VAZ [its vaccine] to new disease strains if required and hopes to reduce the time needed to reach production at scale to between six to nine months by utilizing existing clinical data and optimizing its established supply chain.”
However, it won’t include the revenue of its vaccine deliveries. But in the financial report revealed substantial growth during the 2020 period. Thus, the profit remained high like in previous years.
Speaking in figures, then final quarter revenues grew eleven percent ($7.4 billion). Overall revenue in the last year increased nine percent. The complete total was $26.6 billion.
Mentioning the above figures, chief executive Pascal Soriot said that despite the impact of the pandemic, they delivered double-digit revenue growth to leverage improved profitability and cash generation.
Pandemic rising again across the globe
Meanwhile, the entire world is once again stuck in the pandemic phase even in the new year. Despite many vaccine samples officially rolling out, doubts are surrounding them. Most of the people are either unsure of their impact or are hesitating from taking doses. That’s why the government authorities are promoting awareness campaigns.
Whether it’s AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccine doses, it will take time for them to win people’s confidence.
But the rising number of cases, especially of the new variant lately, are a sign of concern. Unless the situation improves, using masks and practicing social distancing will be necessary and compulsory. That’s one thing that is essential while going out and interacting with each other in public areas.
Image courtesy of Scripps Research/YouTube Screenshot