AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine "Possible Completion This Winter"... Will the Spread Slow Down from Year-End?

Oxford University Research Team "Vaccine to Be Supplied This Winter"
Moderna and Pfizer Vaccines Expected to Produce Over 1 Billion Doses Starting Next Year

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has been added to the list of companies that have announced they will release a vaccine by the end of the year. As a result, attention is focused on whether the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) will subside from early next year when vaccines are expected to be supplied in earnest.

According to the British daily The Guardian on the 25th (local time), Andrew Pollard, professor of pediatric infectious diseases and immunology at the University of Oxford's COVID-19 vaccine development team, appeared on BBC Radio that day and stated, "The vaccine will be supplied within this winter." This directly contradicts Chris Whitty, England's Chief Medical Officer (CMO), who previously expressed a negative stance at a press conference, saying, "A vaccine to combat COVID-19 will not be developed by the end of next year."

Professor Pollard said, "I understand that Chris Whitty, CMO, has to be cautious given his position and role," adding, "However, clinical cases are rapidly accumulating in the ongoing Phase 3 trials, and data to be submitted to regulatory authorities can be secured within this year."

The vaccine jointly developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford has already entered Phase 3 clinical trials in the UK since July, targeting 10,000 people, and additional clinical trials involving 10,000 people have been underway since last month in Brazil and South Africa. It is known that from next month, clinical trials involving 30,000 people will begin in the United States.

Major pharmaceutical companies such as Moderna and Pfizer, which have entered Phase 3 clinical trials, are also expected to complete vaccine development by the end of the year and start mass production from next year. Accordingly, there is growing interest in whether early next year will be a turning point in the spread of COVID-19.

According to the medical media Stat News, Moderna signed a contract with the European Union (EU) yesterday to supply up to 160 million doses of the vaccine and plans to start production early next year, aiming to produce 1 billion doses throughout the year. Pfizer, which is jointly developing a vaccine with German BioNTech, stated that it could complete Phase 3 clinical trials as early as October and enter regulatory approval review. If approved, it plans to produce up to 100 million doses by the end of the year and 1.3 billion doses next year.

Once vaccines are officially released, the fear of COVID-19 is expected to disappear from the end of next year. According to Newsweek, Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recently appeared on a podcast hosted by George Washington University and said, "Once vaccine production is in full swing from the end of this year or early next year, vaccines that can be administered to tens of millions of people will be available," adding, "From the end of next year, vaccine supply will increase significantly, allowing the world to escape the fear of COVID-19."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.