Vaccine ‘will be with us by end of winter’
Shock as ‘virus’ kills Brazilian on Oxford trial (although he got a placebo jab)
A VACCINE could be here by the end of winter, an official adviser said yesterday.
There is hope for the UK after the Government played the ‘clever game’ of investing in several different options, said Professor John Edmunds.
While it is hard to manage to the pandemic now, there will be help from vaccination in the ‘ not-too- distant future’, the scientist told MPs.
There are expected to be trial results for at least two vaccines by the end of the year, one developed by Oxford University and another from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.
Early access has been secured for up to 130 million doses of the two vaccines in deals struck by ministers.
A volunteer in a Brazilian trial of the vaccine developed at Oxford was reported to have died yesterday amid fears he caught the virus. But the trial, run by British drug company AstraZeneca, has not been placed on hold. Dr Joao Pedro Feitosa is understood to have been in the ‘ control’ arm of the trial, meaning he was given a jab with no effect for comparison with those who received the vaccine.
Brazilian health authority Anvisa reported his death, stating it had received data from an investigation into the matter. The Federal University of Sao Paulo, which is helping run phase three clinical trials in Brazil, separately said Dr Feirtosa was Brazilian.
Oxford University said in a statement: ‘All significant medical incidents are independently reviewed. Following careful assessment, there have been no concerns about safety of the clinical trial, and an independent review, in addition to the Brazilian regulator, has recommended the trial should continue.’
A US trial of the vaccine, involving 30,000 volunteers, remains on hold after a participant fell ill with ‘unexplained neurological symptoms’.
Professor Edmunds, a member of the Government’s Sage advisory group, added that a ‘ huge array’ of vaccines is being developed.
Giving evidence to two committees on science and health, he said: ‘It’s an almost certainty we will have vaccines that help us to manage this epidemic in the not-too- distant future.’
When asked what the chances were of a vaccine being available this winter, he added: ‘ Towards the end of winter, it’s certainly possible.’
Professor Edmunds, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: ‘These things are moving at pace and many, many vaccines are being developed across the world.
‘The likelihood is that some of these will become available in the not-too-distant future.
‘The UK has played a clever game and invested in very many of these and different technologies.’
Experts hope a vaccine could be rolled out in a few months, first to groups such as care home residents and staff, older people and healthcare workers.
Professor Edmunds also warned more action was still needed to combat the virus.
‘If we leave it as it is, we will see peaks in the North West, probably in the next four to six weeks, and then the rest of the country are weeks behind,’ he said. ‘We’ll see peaks around Christmas and the New Year of very severe numbers of cases throughout the UK.’