Coronavirus: Oxford vaccine roll out in UK by Christmas

Frontline UK medical staff and high-risk patients may get the first emergency shots of AstraZeneca vaccine before Christmas.

The Oxford vaccine is produced in Anagni, southeast of Rome. Picture: AFP

British doctors, frontline medical staff and high-risk patients may get the first emergency shots of the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-­19 vaccine before Christmas.

But Australia’s supply of the vaccine, which is undergoing stage three trials, is likely to be available only once it has received full regulatory approval.

Australia has contracted for supplies of the Oxford vaccine. Europe has committed to 400 million doses, while the US will receive 300 million.

Scott Morrison said this month Australia would receive the first 3.8 million doses of the vaccine in January and February and a further 30 million doses down the track. The government has also contracted to buy 51 million doses of the University of Queensland vaccine, still in development. Both vaccines will be manufactured under contract by CSL in Australia.

The professor leading the Oxford trial, Adrian Hill, said emergency approval in the UK would clear the two-jab vaccination to be given to medics and those at high risk, while stage-three trials are nearing completion. He said this could happen by Christmas.

He believes the official sign off for distribution to the wider community would start at the beginning of next year. “The initial licence would be for emergency use, not full approval,” Professor Hill said on Monday.

A leaked National Health Service memo shows hospital trusts have been told to prepare for a COVID-19 staff vaccine program in early December. “The latest intelligence states a coronavirus vaccine should be available this year with NHS staff prioritised prior to Christmas,” the memo says.

Adrian Hill. Picture: Getty Images

The UK government has introduced laws to bypass EU regulations if the vaccine is ready before the Brexit transition period ends on December 31.

Stages one and two of the Oxford trials have shown the jab produces an immune response in the body to COVID-19 and researchers are preparing to “unblind” the study results. This will show the difference in data from those who have received the vaccine and those who received a placebo.

More than 10,000 volunteers have been involved in the Oxford vaccine trial across Britain and other trials have begun in Brazil.

The US has restarted its Oxford trial after a lengthy pause while it evaluated the health of a woman who developed spinal inflammation after receiving the vaccine.

AstraZeneca has been manufacturing the vaccine in 10 factories ahead of approval, and billions of doses are ready to roll out.

US infectious diseases chief Anthony Fauci told the BBC it would be known by the end of next month or the beginning of December whether a vaccine is safe and effective.

“But the question is, once you have a safe and effective vaccine, or more than one, how can you get it to the people who need it as quickly as possible? The amount of doses that will be available in December will not certainly be enough to vaccinate everybody, you’ll have to wait several months into 2021,” Dr Fauci said.

The UK government has ­authorised military personnel, veterinary surgeons, midwives, physiotherapists and pharmacists to carry out vaccinations.