Johnson hails ‘fantastic’ virus vaccine news
LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday hailed the “fantastic” news that Astrazeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine developed with the University of Oxford could be up to 90% effective, but said it still would require safety checks.
“Incredibly exciting news the Oxford vaccine has proved so effective in trials,” Johnson said on Twiter. “There are still further safety checks ahead, but these are fantastic results.”
Health Secretary Mat Hancock said it was “fantastic news” that data on Monday showed that a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Astrazeneca with Oxford University could be up to 90% effective and reduce its transmission.
“These figures... show that the vaccine in the right dosage can be up to 90% effective,” he told Sky News, ater an announcement from Astrazeneca.
“We’ve got 100 million doses on order and should all that go well, the bulk of the rollout will be in the new year.”
Hancock said Astrazeneca, Oxford and the medicine regulator would have to study the results to see how best to administer the vaccine once it was found to be safe.
“One of the things that regulator will need to look at is whether the programme for how the doses are done which can lead to the 90% effectiveness figure, whether that is the appropriate way to take the Oxford vaccine forward,” he told BBC TV.
He also said there was evidence in the report that the vaccine could reduce transmission of the disease.
“Now of course that would be very good news if confirmed, because obviously what we want to do is not only stop people from geting the disease but also stop its transmission,” he said.
Johnson told officials on Monday there was “no place for bullying” in his government, trying to ease concerns ater he stood by his interior minister against charges of bad behaviour.
However, in a leter writen to ministers and permanent secretaries — the most senior figures in government departments — there was also an implicit warning that when the government faced “unprecedented challenges,” politicians and officials should keep “internal conversations private.”
Last week, Johnson had hoped to “reset” his government ater two of his most senior advisers said they were leaving, aiming to improve relations with his own Conservative lawmakers, with government officials and with the media.