Oz gets shot at vaccine
AUSTRALIA is in advanced talks to secure Oxford University’s coronavirus vaccine, which could be delivered before Christmas.
The hotly anticipated vaccine is due to be manufactured next month at a plant in North Wales and already has orders for 400 million doses across the world.
The British government has reserved a section of Wockhardt’s plant in Wrexham, about four hours drive north of the capital Cardiff, for 18 months.
Wockhardt managing director Ravi Limaye said he hoped to deliver doses of the Oxford vaccine “very soon”.
“The industry is working, as you know, at unprecedented speed; everything going well we expect to start delivering the first dose very soon, maybe even before Christmas,” he said.
The medical manufacturing facility, inside the sprawling medical manufacturing plant, is about the size of an Australian living room. But it will be able to produce up to 400 vials a minute, or 40 million per year, of Oxford University’s promising vaccine candidate from September.
The vaccine will be delivered in bulk to the factory and then processed into 5ml glass vials, which will be distributed by the UK’s National Health Service.
“We started the process at the end of February. The last two or three months we have been working extremely hard to get this facility up and running to be ready for the finish of the vaccine,” Mr Limaye said. “The validation process will start any time now. We expect complete validation in August and September and after that, everything going well, we would start manufacturing the vials of the vaccine.
“With regulatory approvals as soon as possible, the vials will be available for immunisation for people.”
A sign out the front of the plant was advertising for staff, as the company prepares to ramp up production.
Workers at the plant were happy and proud to be a part of an achievement that could save lives and end lockdowns that have cost the world’s economy billions of dollars and cost millions of jobs.
A report published in The Lancet in July showed that the Oxford vaccine candidate, a chimpanzee adenovirus with the chemical name of ChAdOx1, was successful in a trial of 1077 people.
Australian health authorities are also understood to be in discussions about other potential vaccines.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said after The Lancet report in late July that he was confident there would be a coronavirus vaccine.
“I now believe we are close to a vaccine and I am confident … that we will be in a position to provide vaccines for all Australians,” he said at the time.