AstraZeneca "apuesta" por la vacuna Covid-19

AstraZeneca will begin supplying an order of 100 million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine for British people in September - if ongoing trials prove successful.

CEO Pascal Soriot confirmed on Sunday (May 24) that the UK government had ordered the doses of the University of Oxford’s vaccine candidate, which AstraZeneca will produce.

And he said he was “quite confident” the vaccine would work - but stressed there was a “race” on to prove its efficacy through trials with volunteers as coronavirus cases in the community declined.

“We have to run as far as possible before the disease disappears so we can demonstrate that the vaccine is indeed effective,” he said, revealing that trials were also going ahead in Brazil, which is firmly in the grip of Covid-19.

AstraZeneca announced last week that it had concluded the first agreements for at least 400 million doses of the vaccine.

Health secretary Matt Hancock has said the first 30 million doses for the UK could be available by September.

The United States has ordered 300 million doses, as part of President Donald Trump’s Operation Warp Speed initiative to speed up vaccine production.

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“We have actually received an order from the British government to supply 100 million doses of vaccine and those will go to the British people,” he said. “And there is no doubt that starting in September, we will start delivering those doses of vaccine to the British government for vaccination.”

But for that to happen, two things must happen.

“The vaccine has to work - that is one question - and the other question is, even if it works, we have to demonstrate it,” said Mr Soriot.
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