In a statement, the UK government said the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) had approved the Oxford University / AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine following “rigorous clinical trials and in-depth analysis of the data by MHRA experts.”
The vaccine met “strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness,” the statement said.
“The NHS has a clear vaccine delivery plan and decades of experience delivering large-scale vaccination programs. It has already vaccinated hundreds of thousands of patients with the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine and its roll-out will continue. Now the NHS will begin operations. to release their comprehensive preparations for the Oxford University / AstraZeneca vaccine rollout. “
“Excitingly, we have found that one of our dosing regimens can be about 90% effective and if this dosing regimen is used, more people could be vaccinated with the planned vaccination,” said Andrew Pollard, lead investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial. in November.
The vaccine – developed at Oxford University in England – is significantly cheaper than the others and, crucially, it would be much easier to transport and distribute in developing countries than its rivals, as it does not need to be stored at freezing temperatures.
“I think this is the only vaccine that can be used in those settings right now,” said Azra Ghani, chair of infectious disease epidemiology at Imperial College London.
The Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine can be stored for at least six months in refrigerator temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius (36 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit). Moderna’s vaccine should be stored at minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit) – or at refrigerator temperatures for up to 30 days – and the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine should be stored at minus 75 degrees Celsius (minus 103 degrees Fahrenheit). ), and used once refrigerated at elevated temperatures within five days.
“Pfizer and Moderna need freezer storage, which is simply not the case in many environments,” said Ghani.
Cold chain refrigeration is the standard storage used worldwide to deliver vaccines from central locations to local health clinics. The AstraZeneca vaccine is so far “the only thing that can definitely be delivered to those systems,” added Ghani.
The vaccines are based on different technology. AstraZeneca’s offering – such as Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine and Russia’s Sputnik V – uses an adenovirus to deliver genetic fragments of the coronavirus into the body.