Oxford vaccine chief “optimistic” that trial results could be reached by end of 2020

CNN

There is a “small chance” that results from Oxford University’s Covid-19 vaccine trials could be ready by Christmas 2020, according to one of the university’s leading scientists.

“The first step is to reach the point where we can do an analysis and figure out whether or not the vaccine works…I’m optimistic that we could reach that point before the end of this year,” Andrew Pollard told UK lawmakers during a government committee hearing Wednesday.

He said there was a small chance the information could be ready before the festive season. But Pollard stressed that the data had to be reviewed by regulators before the vaccine could be distributed and that he did not know the timeline of the regulation process.

“Our bit we’re getting closer to,” he said, referring to the analysis of the trials.

The university is developing its vaccine with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca. Phase 3 trials for the vaccine began in September.

CNN