Will Oxford COVID-19 vaccine be available by year-end? Read what developers say
Live MintThe University of Oxford's possible COVID-19 vaccine could be rolled out by the end of the year but there is no certainty, the lead developer of the vaccine said on Tuesday. The experimental vaccine, which has been licensed to AstraZeneca, produced an immune response in early-stage clinical trials, data showed on Monday, preserving hopes it could be in use by the end of 2020. "The end of the year target for getting vaccine roll-out, it's a possibility but there's absolutely no certainty about that because we need three things to happen," Sarah Gilbert told BBC Radio. Sitting somewhere in the middle, health minister Matt Hancock told a parliamentary committee that despite being an "optimist in life" for what he called the best case scenario in getting a vaccine for Christmas, he could not "promise to play Santa".