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Updated November 17th, 2020 at 12:29 IST

UK secured 5 million doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine candidate: Health Minister

The UK Health Minister, Matt Hancock, during a conference on November 16 announced that the UK has secured an initial agreement for 5 million doses.

Reported by: Akanksha Arora
UK
| Image:self
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The United Kingdom Health Minister, Matt Hancock, during a conference on November 16 announced that the UK has secured an initial agreement for 5 million doses of Moderna vaccine. The doses are expected to get delivered by Spring. Taking to his official Twitter handle, Hancock wrote, “I really welcome more promising news on vaccines - with provisional data showing the Moderna vaccine’s 94.5% effective. I’m delighted we’ve today secured an initial agreement for 5 million doses when it comes on stream in spring next year”. 

Read: POTUS Donald Trump Jumps To Take Credit As Moderna Announce 94.5% COVID Vaccine Efficacy

According to a tally by the Johns Hopkins University, the UK has a total of 1,390,681 cases with 52,147 fatalities. Previously, the UK secured a deal of 350 million vaccine doses from 6 different suppliers, including Pfizer Inc. Also, it secured 100 million doses of an AstraZeneca/Oxford candidate. In the conference, Hancock termed it as an ‘interesting step forward’. He said, “Although I stress this is preliminary, the safety data is limited, and their production facilities are not yet at scale”. 

Read: Moderna Says Its COVID-19 Shot Is 94.5% Effective

Moderna Phase 3 trials 

Recently, Moderna announced the result of its phase three trials as it reported that its COVID-19 vaccine candidate has proven to be 94.5% effective. The analysis was based on results of more than 30,000 participants in the US. As per the analysis report, the 'preliminary analysis suggests a broadly consistent safety and efficacy profile across all evaluated subgroups’.  By the end of 2020, Moderna has projected to have approximately 20 million doses of mRNA-1273 (COVID Vaccine) ready to ship in the U.S. The company has also informed that it remains on track to manufacture 500 million to 1 billion doses globally in 2021. The phase 3 trials of the Moderna vaccine are randomized and also include providing vaccine shots at the 100 µg dose level in 30,000 participants in the US, ages 18 and older. Trials also included Americans who were under the age of 65 but have high-risk chronic diseases that put them at increased risk of severe COVID-19, such as diabetes, severe obesity and cardiac disease.

Read: UK To Run Final Stage Trials Of Janssen Covid Vaccine

Also Read: Rishi Sunak 'definitely Not Interested' In Being UK PM But Hails Country For Warm Welcome

(Image Credits: AP)

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Published November 17th, 2020 at 12:30 IST

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