The United Kingdom health secretary, Matt Hancock, on Tuesday said clinical trials of a potential COVID-19 vaccine on patients will begin on Thursday.
The vaccine, called ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, is being developed by scientists at the University of Oxford.
Hancock who made the disclosure during the daily Downing Street press conference, said the government was “throwing everything” at the vaccine drive and that a provision of £20 million had been made for the Oxford team to help fund the clinical trials.
He further revealed that an additional £22.5 million in funding will be made available for researchers at Imperial College, London as the government is prepared to “back them to the hilt and give them every resource they need to get them the best possible chance of success as soon as possible”.
He, however, noted that nothing about “this process is certain”.
Hancock said, “In the long run the best way to defeat coronavirus is through a vaccine. This is a new disease, this is uncertain science, but I’m certain that we will throw everything we’ve got at developing a vaccine.”
“The UK is at the forefront of the global effort. We’ve put more money than any other country into the global search for a vaccine. And for all the efforts around the world, two of the leading vaccine developments are taking place here at home, at Oxford and Imperial.
“Both of these promising projects are making rapid progress and I’ve told the scientists leading them that we’ll do everything we can to support them.
“And today making available 20 million pounds to the oxford team to fund their clinical trials. The team has accelerated its process working, with the regulator of the MHRA ((Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency), who have been absolutely brilliant.
“As a result, I can announce that the vaccine from the oxford project will be trialled in people from this Thursday.
“In normal time, reaching this stage takes years and I am very proud of the work taken so far.
“At the same time, we will invest in manufacturing capability so that if either of these vaccines safely works then we can make it available for the British people as soon as humanly possible.”
“The upside of being the first country in the world to develop a successful vaccine is so huge that I am throwing everything at it.”
With agency report
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