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Summary
- The UK is the first nation in the world to approve the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine.
- The AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine reportedly fights the new, highly contagious mutant variant of the coronavirus that is currently spreading fast across the UK.
- In Canada, the AstraZeneca-Oxford shot is currently under review.
The United Kingdom became the first nation in the world to approve the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca (NASDAQ: AZN, AZNCF:US) and Oxford University on Wednesday, December 30 (GMT). The UK vaccine reportedly fights the new, highly contagious mutant variant of the coronavirus that is currently spreading fast across the country.
In Canada, the AstraZeneca-Oxford and the Johnson & Johnson vaccines are currently being reviewed by Health Canada.
Canada had banned all passenger flights from the UK when the mutant strain was first reported earlier in December.
A largescale inoculation campaign is currently underway in Canada. The country’s leading medical authority and regulatory body Health Canada has already approved the immediate ‘emergency’ use of vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
Britain’s health ministry said that the government approved the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 shot for public use following the recommendations from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
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What do we know about the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine?
- AstraZeneca said that its vaccines, approved in the UK for emergency supply, have been authorized for a two-dose regime.
- The AstraZeneca-Oxford shot is reportedly cheaper than the rest.
- It can last longer at normal refrigerator temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius (or 36 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit) for a span of at least six months.
- One of the two-dose regimens of the AstraZeneca-Oxford jab, n=2,741, indicated an efficacy of 90 per cent when given as a half dose and followed by a full dose the following month.
- When two full doses of the vaccine were given a month apart, the other course of the two-dose regimens (n=8,895) showed a 62 per cent efficacy.
- AstraZeneca and the Oxford University conducted its research on a group of 131 COVID-19 patients.
- Of the 400-plus million COVID-19 vaccine doses preordered by the Canadian government, about 20 million doses are of the AstraZeneca-Oxford jab.
- The UK is said to have ordered about 100 million doses of this vaccine.
Apart from the UK, South Africa has also recorded cases of a new variant of the novel coronavirus which is reportedly more contagious than the COVID-19 strain we have been battling for the last one year.
