Vaccine could go ahead before official approval

The coronavirus jab might be made available for use even before it is given official regulatory approval

A vaccine for coronavirus could be rolled out even before it has been authorised by regulators, the chair of the UK Vaccines Taskforce has said. This week, Oxford University said a jab could be ready before Christmas. Usually, it can take between 18 and 24 months for authorisation of a new medicine. But that time frame could be slashed to 70 days, and it may be possible to access the vaccine on compassionate grounds before it is officially authorised.

A VACCINE for coronavirus could be rolled out even before it has been authorised by regulators, the chair of the UK Vaccines Taskforce has said.

This week, Oxford University said a jab could be ready before Christmas if enough people enrolled in trials in the next few weeks.

Usually, it can take between 18 and 24 months for authorisation of a new medicine by the European Medicines Agency, followed by further delay while it is scrutinised by the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. But that time frame could be slashed to 70 days using a fast-track procedure, and Kate Bingham, of the Vaccines Taskforce, said it may be possible to access vaccine on compassionate grounds before it is officially authorised.

Mrs Bingham told The Daily Telegraph she was hopeful that a vaccine would be ready for this year.

Regulators have already started reviewing certain aspects of the vaccine trial to speed up the process.

“Oxford will file their submission with the EMA, plus there is a route for compassionate or emergency use in the UK and MHRA have been working joined at the hip with … vaccine companies,” said Mrs Bingham.

“By engaging regulators early and involving them in key decision making and key safety aspects, everything can be done much more quickly.

“They will still need time to digest the data, but I think it will be much more rapid than usual.”

Mrs Bingham said it would be up to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to decide who has the first doses, but it is likely to be front-line workers, the over-50s, under-50s with co-morbidities and black, Asian and minority ethnic groups disproportionately affected by the virus.

Yesterday, Matt Hancock told the Commons health select committee he was optimistic that a vaccine would be ready this year.

Asked if a jab would be ready in time for Christmas, the Health Secretary said: “I can’t promise to play Father Christmas. I am an optimist in life and in the best-case scenario the answer is yes.” He added he would “throw everything at it”.

Prof Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute at Oxford, said that it was crucial to get 50,000 recruits enlisted for testing to be in with a chance of getting a vaccine by Christmas.

“We could have a result in August or September or October or November. No one knows for certain,” he said.

Meanwhile, Prof Sarah Gilbert, lead researcher of the vaccine development programme said trials were being held up by a lack of vaccine.

The vaccine is created from a line of “immortal cells”. But it takes time for the cells to proliferate, be purified and concentrated into a vaccine.

“We’re being limited by our ability to supply vaccine into those trials and we’re trying to manufacture more,” said Prof Gilbert.