Coronavirus: Here's what you need to know about Oxford COVID-19 vaccine

Britain recently became the first country to give emergency authorization to Oxford Covid-19 Vaccine. Here's what we know so far.

After almost a year of combatting the microscopic villain, coronavirus, there seems to be some hope in the form of vaccines. Britain recently became the first country to give emergency authorization to the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford.

With the UK giving the green light to the Oxford vaccine, India is also expected to follow suit soon as a meeting of the decision-making body began on Friday. It gives us new hope as we welcome the New Year. The authorisation in the UK recommended two doses administered with an interval of between four and 12 weeks.

What Is The Oxford Vaccine?

Also known as COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, it is made from a harmless chimp cold virus that cannot grow inside human cells. It uses a replication-deficient chimpanzee viral vector based on a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus) that causes infections in chimpanzees and contains the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein.

After a person gets vaccinated, the surface spike protein is produced, which prompts the immune system to attack the coronavirus infection.

How Effective Is The Oxford Vaccine?

In the clinical trials, the vaccine was found to be safe and effective at preventing COVID-19 symptoms, with no severe cases and no hospitalizations more than 14 days after the second dose, according to AstraZeneca.

Formerly known as AZD1222, the vaccine was found to be 70.4 per cent effective. In the second trial, there were no cases of severe infections or hospitalizations in the vaccine group.

50 Million Doses For India

A version of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine called "Covishield" is being prepared by the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's largest vaccine manufacturer.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited the Pune-based company on November 28 to review vaccine development.

The company this week said that it has a stockpile 40-50 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine. India is likely to receive the majority of these 50 million doses.

Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla recently said in a press conference that they have stockpiled 40-50 million doses of Covidshield. "Once we get regulatory approvals in a few days, it will be down to the government to decide how much they can take and how fast. We will be producing around 300 million doses by July 2021," he added.

This vaccine is believed to play a major role in India's plan to vaccinate its population against COVID-19 due to several factors including low-cost, ease of storage and transport.

(with inputs with IANS)