UK expecting COVID vaccine in 3 months, every adult could be inoculated by Easter: Report

A mass roll-out of the coronavirus vaccine in the United Kingdom could be completed by early 2021, raising the prospect of the entire adult population in the country getting inoculated by May. According to a report in UK's The Times, the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Oxford University and AstraZeneca, which is in its final stage of clinal trials, could be approved by the regulators in the country by early 2021. 

Read: US FDA Investigating AstraZeneca's COVID-19 Vaccine Trial, Says Chief

The Times reported that if the vaccine gets approval by the start of next year, the possibility of every adult in the country receiving a dose within six months increases. As per the report, scientists working on the vaccine program hope it could be approved in the next three months. While UK government sources told The Times that they expect a full programme for adults could take up to six months to complete after the vaccine is approved. 

Read: AstraZeneca Begins Final-stage Trial Of Covid-19 Vaccine In US, 30,000 Adults To Test Shot

AstraZeneca's AZD1222

AstraZeneca's vaccine AZD1222 testing was paused last month after two volunteers fell ill during the final stage of the clinical trials. However, a couple of days later the company resumed the trials, while CEO Pascal Soriot said that AstraZeneca is hoping for a vaccine with 50 percent effectiveness and aiming to get approval by the end of 2020. The AstraZeneca vaccine trials are currently underway in various parts of the world such as the United Kingdom, India, and Brazil.

Read: COVID-19 Vaccine: AstraZeneca Releases Trial Blueprint, Aims For 50% Effectiveness

AstraZeneca's vaccine is being considered a frontrunner by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The vaccine uses a replication-deficient chimpanzee viral vector based on a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus) that causes infections in chimpanzees and contains the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein. There are nine other pharma companies in the world that are currently in the final phase of testing a potential COVID-19 vaccine.

Read: COVID-19 Vaccine: AstraZeneca CEO Says 2020 Approval 'on Cards' Despite Trial Pause