UK pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca said it plans to release anti-variant Covid-19 vaccine in the autumn of this year, while clinical trials begin in the spring.
The FTSE 100 company announced the record as they released their annual results, Sky News reported on February 11th.
“In collaboration with Oxford University, AstraZeneca aims to transform C19VAZ [its vaccine] to new strains of disease if needed and hope to reduce the time required for production at scale to between six to nine months, using the existing clinical data and making the best established supply chain, ”the company said in its annual results on 11 February.
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The standard vaccine, released on Jan. 7 and co-created by Oxford University, is effective against the Kent version of the virus, which was first discovered in September, the company said.
However, Oxford University reported that the vaccine against mild to moderate disease had a “limited effectiveness” caused by the South African variant, which is present in a handful of UK communities.
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The UK government will issue a strict mandatory hotel quarantine for international travelers coming from “red list” countries, including South Africa. From 15 February, travelers will have to pay £ 1,750 to spend 10 days in a hotel, with two coronavirus tests to take on their own.
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