Vaccine Update: Oxford Set For UK Approval Next Week; Moderna To Be Rolled Out In US Tomorrow

London: There is more encouraging news on the COVID vaccine front.

The UK is expected to authorize the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine by December 28 or 29 while the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency-use authorisation to a second vaccine — Moderna’s mRNA vaccine.

“The Oxford vaccine is expected to be approved within days of Christmas, kickstarting a massive drive to give jabs to millions of people in January,” The Daily Telegraph reported.

UK has already rolled out a massive inoculation programme with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Once the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine AZD1222 gets the regulator’s nod, it will boost chances of necessary approvals in India too. Serum Institute of India — which is testing and manufacturing the Oxford vaccine candidate — hopes that the vaccination drive in India will begin in India in January.

In the US, healthcare workers will be administered Moderna’s vaccine from Monday, a week after Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine was rolled out.

The US is the world’s worst-hit country, with over 315,000 succumbing to the deadly coronavirus and almost 2 lakh positive cases being reported daily now.