Oxford̢۪s vaccine is a positive British success story, projecting our soft power around the world

Oxford̢۪s vaccine is a positive British success story, projecting our soft power around the world

Dr Richard Hatchett, chief executive of  Cepi, said he believed the breakthrough had “the potential to significantly alter the course of the global pandemic”

“The data released today suggest the vaccine is safe and comparable in its efficacy to other licensed vaccines – including influenza – that are widely used to protect people around the world today.

“AstraZeneca and Oxford have developed an affordable, scaleable vaccine that crucially can be stored and shipped in a regular refrigerator.  This makes it appropriate for use and easy to deliver almost anywhere in the world, including in low-resource settings.  That means that this vaccine will make an important contribution to controlling the pandemic globally."

When Covid-19 emerged, Cepi was funding Oxford to develop vaccines against Middle East respiratory syndrome, another coronavirus, and other emerging infectious diseases.  

The work gave the Oxford team a head start, enabling the Oxford to produce a vaccine candidate against Covid within weeks of the pandemic breaking out.In June AstraZeneca joined the project to scale up manufacturing capacity.

The vaccine is a positive British success story, projecting our soft power around the world, said Romilly Greenhill, director of the One Campaign.

"The UK is a real leader in pharmaceutical development and science - something we're