More good news has arrived for COVID-19 vaccine prospects.
Scientists Monday welcomed the results of a large-scale trial of a vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford and manufacturer AstraZeneca.
Results showed the vaccine overall is 70% effective, but that number goes up to 90 percent effective when one-half dose is given, followed by a full dose one month later.
Chris Whitty, a professor and England’s chief medical officer, called the vaccine “a very encouraging step forward” in a tweet. He expressed his thanks to researchers and volunteers.
“The regulators will now do their independent analysis for safety and efficacy, but this is another important advance,” Dr. Whitty said.
Britain has placed orders for 100 million doses, which, if approved, would be enough to vaccinate most of the British population, according to media reports.
Health secretary Matt Hancock predicted life in the United Kingdom could return to normal after Easter.
‘These findings show that we have an effective vaccine that will save many lives,” said Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and the Oxford Vaccine Trial’s chief investigator.
The Oxford vaccine news follows the positive reports about vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna, both reportedly with high efficiency rates during trials.
Meanwhile, in Santa Barbara County, no COVID-19 numbers were available Monday.
The county Public Health Department reported there was a delay, but said the numbers for the cases for Sunday through Tuesday would be reported today at publichealthsbc.org/status-reports. The News-Press has found that typically the data is released sometime in the afternoon and plans to publish the numbers in Wednesday’s paper.
email: dmason@newspress.com
