UK to begin human trials of Coronavirus vaccine from April 23

Amid the deadly coronavirus pandemic, the British Health Minister Matt Hancock on Tuesday has announced that a vaccine developed by researchers at Oxford University will be tested on people from Thursday. The UK government also announced a 20 million pounds ($24.5 million) funding for a University of Oxford project working on developing a vaccine against the novel COVID-19. 

The U.K. has been criticized by some for being too slow in its response to the pandemic and for a lack of testing and personal protective equipment. The country has been on lockdown since March 23, and the government recently said it would extend those measures by at least another three weeks.

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UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock also said that the Department for Health was throwing everything at trying to find a vaccine because it is a critical aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic fight and lifting the strict lockdown measures in place to curb its spread. 

Hancock further mentioned that the government will invest in manufacturing capacity in case any of the vaccine work. Another 22.5 million pounds ($28 million) is being made available to Imperial College London to support its phase-two clinical trials so that work on phase three trial can begin on a large scale.

“Normally it would take years to get to this point. The UK is at the forefront of the global effort we’ve put in more money than any other into the global search for a vaccine. Nothing about this is inevitable. Vaccine production is a matter of trial and error. But the UK will throw everything it has at trying to find one,” Hancock was quoted as saying.

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COVID-19 outbreak

The announcement came as Britain had another major daily leap in the hospital death toll from Coronavirus, up by 823 to hit 17,337 on Tuesday. Meanwhile, 1,29,044 people have tested positive for the disease.  The country has the sixth-largest number of confirmed Coronavirus cases in the world. There are currently around 70 COVID-19 vaccines in development around the world, while only a handful of which is being tested on humans.

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(with agencies input)