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Developed by Oxford University in the United Kingdom by AstraZeneca and dubbed the “vaccine for the world,” the vaccine is nearly ready to begin distribution.
Pfizer distributed the first COVID-19 vaccine, followed by Moderna's vaccine. Both are now been administered in the United States.
Approximately 530,000 doses of the new vaccine are expected to be ready as soon as early next week, while the UK has reportedly ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine, which will allow them to vaccinate 50 people.
The vaccine’s approval came not long after a new, potentially more contagious COVID-19 strain made its way from the UK into the United States.
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It is expected that the AstraZeneca vaccine may be spread more widely to poorer countries, as it doesn’t require the ultra-cold freezers that other vaccines need to be stored in and is less costly.
Individual doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine are expected to cost between three and four dollars, cheaper than other vaccines that have been distributed.
“This is very good news for the world — it makes a global approach to a global pandemic much easier,” Stephen Evans, a professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said in the New York Times. “In a pandemic, it will be better to get more people some level of protection than to have all of the people being vaccinated get full protection.”
According to reports, the UK government is employing a new strategy in its vaccination plan, prioritizing getting the first doses out to as many people as possible before administering a second dose up to 12 weeks later, not the 21 day model America is following.
“The immediate urgency is for rapid and high levels of vaccine uptake,” Wei Shen Lim, chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said to reporters on Wednesday. "This will allow the greatest number of eligible people to receive the vaccine in the shortest time possible, and that will protect the greatest number of lives.”
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