A third vaccine candidate, this one from AstraZeneca, has shown the capability to be up to 90% effective as pharmaceutical companies around the world race for answers to conquering the pandemic as early as this spring.
Vaccines can't come soon enough. Since Nov. 12, the United States has reported more coronavirus cases than it did in any full month of the pandemic, while hospitalizations set new highs every day.
The University of Oxford said Monday that it is working with AstraZeneca in submitting interim Phase III data to global regulators for emergency-use approvals. Large scale manufacturing is already underway in more than 10 countries to support "equitable global access," the university said in a statement.
"The vaccine’s simple supply chain and our no-profit pledge and commitment to broad, equitable and timely access means it will be affordable and globally available supplying hundreds of millions of doses on approval," said AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot.
Pfizer/BioNTech has already applied for U.S. Food and Drug Administration emergency authorization for a vaccine that could move forward early next month. Moderna says it will seek FDA authorization for its candidate soon. Both are claiming 95% efficacy rates. Operation Warp Speed chief science adviser Dr. Moncef Slaoui said Sunday that 20 million Americans could be vaccinated next month, and relative normalcy could return to the country as soon as May.