Britain plans to produce COVID-19 vaccine
The US Department of Health has already agreed with the British pharmaceutical company to supply at least 300 million doses of the vaccine to the United States.
Mass production of COVID-19 vaccines is planned to begin in the UK in September in case the tests prove successful. This was reported by representatives of the British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.
“The company concluded the first contracts for the supply of at least 400 million doses, has already provided an opportunity for the production of a billion doses and will begin the first deliveries in September 2020,” the company said in a statement.
Specialists of the pharmaceutical company are now developing vaccines together with scientists from the University of Oxford.
“We would like to thank the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom for their substantial support in accelerating the development and production of the vaccine. We will do everything in our power to quickly create the vaccine and make it widely available,” said Pascal Sorio, head of the company.
It is known that the results of the first phase of clinical trials conducted in England will become known in June, and if successful they will continue in other countries. If everything goes according to plan, then in September 30 million people in the UK (just under half the population) will be able to access the vaccine.
US ordered 300 million doses
The US government has invested more than a billion dollars in the development of a vaccine by the company: representatives of the US Department of Health reported that they had already agreed with AstraZeneca to supply at least 300 million doses of the vaccine to the United States.
“Responding to the call from President (USA) Donald Trump to develop 300 million doses of the vaccine by January (…), the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and AstraZeneca are collaborating to provide at least 300 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine called AZD1222, with the delivery of the first doses in October 2020, “the US Department of Health said in a statement.
It is noted that the agreement between the parties should accelerate the conduct of the last stage of clinical trials, they can begin this summer with the participation of 30 thousand volunteers in the United States. In addition, the United States could provide the company with $ 1.2 billion in research and vaccine supplies.