The experimental vaccine, which has been licensed to AstraZeneca <AZN.L>,
produced an immune response in early-stage clinical trials, data
showed on Monday, preserving hopes it could be in use by the end of
the year.
"The end of the year target for getting vaccine rollout, it's a
possibility but there's absolutely no certainty about that because
we need three things to happen," Sarah Gilbert told BBC Radio.
She said it needed to be shown to work in late-stage trials, there
needed to be large quantities manufactured and regulators had to
agree quickly to license it for emergency use.
"All of these three things have to happen and come together before
we can start seeing large numbers of people vaccinated," she said.
The Oxford scientists had eyed a million doses of the potential
vaccine to be produced by September.
Although the deal with AstraZeneca has provided manufacturing
capacity to do that, the lower prevalence of the novel coronavirus
in Britain has complicated the process of proving its efficacy.
[to top of second column] |
Late-stage trials are under way in Brazil and South Africa and are
due to start in the United States.
"The crucial thing is that we get enough people exposed to the virus
who've also had the vaccine that we can actually get some proper
adjudication of whether it prevents the disease and remains safe,"
John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford,
told BBC Radio.
"We're hopeful, particularly given the low incident rates in the UK
that the individuals recruited in Brazil and South Africa will
ultimately be able to provide us with the data."
There are no approved vaccines for COVID-19, but the World Health
Organization has said AstraZeneca's shot is one of the leading
candidates.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by Sarah Young and Nick Macfie)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |