AstraZeneca begins final-stage trial of Covid-19 vaccine in US, 30,000 adults to test shot

AstraZeneca Plc has begun a large-scale human trial of its coronavirus vaccine in the United States, the company said in a statement. The UK based pharmaceutical giant plans to enroll as many as 30,000 adults at 80 sites in the US to test the shot. 

The AstraZeneca shot is one of the leaders in the race to develop the Covid-19 vaccine, developed by the researchers at the University of Oxford. In addition to the U.S. trial, a final-stage test of the inoculation is underway in the U.K. and could produce preliminary results as soon as next month. Other companies that have Covid-19 vaccines in phase 3 trials include Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc.

The phase 3 trial is being implemented as part of Operation Warp Speed in the US, which aims to deliver 300 million doses of a safe, effective vaccine for COVID-19 by January 2021.

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Trial delayed for several days

According to researchers from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, who are helping conduct the tests, the trial had been delayed for several days. The university is one of the sites where the trial is being run and plans to begin injecting healthy volunteers on Tuesday, according to William Hartman, a UW Health anesthesiologist and investigator on the trial. By next week that is after September 7 the university plans to ramp up to injecting 50 people a day, Hartman said in an interview.

The U.S. trial of AstraZeneca vaccine was put on hold due to political pressure, possibly because U.S. regulators planned to grant an emergency use authorization on the basis of the trial in Europe, according to a media report.

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As per reports, AstraZeneca already has deals in place with countries to make more than two billion doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, which is being developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford. The company also said that its Covid-19 vaccine could be approved by the end of this year. The company has been busy working on the vaccine and has received huge funds from the government, signed several supply deals, and was even the subject of a mega-merger speculation, according to the international media reports.

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