Oxford did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment. (Representative)
Oxford scientists are preparing to rapidly produce new versions of their vaccine to combat emerging, more contagious COVID-19 variants discovered in the UK, South Africa and Brazil, The Telegraph reported Wednesday.
The team behind the vaccine from Oxford and AstraZeneca Plc is conducting feasibility studies to reconfigure the technology, the paper said, citing a confirmation from Oxford University.
The scientists were estimating how quickly they could reconfigure their ChAdOx vaccine platform, the report said.
A university spokesperson told the paper that Oxford is carefully assessing the impact of new variants on vaccine immunity and evaluating the processes necessary for the rapid development of modified COVID-19 vaccines.
Oxford did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment.
Separately, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that the national drug regulator will be ready and able to approve new versions of COVID-19 vaccines designed to counter new variants of the coronavirus that may appear.
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