COVID vaccines that could be available by the New Year have been recorded rolling off the production line in an image of hope for the world.
The new footage shows the tiny bottles that could end the pandemic that has swept the globe – as drug giant Pfizer reveals it has already manufactured “several hundred thousand doses”.
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Vials of the vaccine are being stockpiled at the plant in Puurs, Belgium – and they’re ready to be rolled out internationally if clinical trials are a success, the Mail on Sunday reports.
Health watchdogs must first decide if the drug is safe and effective.
However, if it is, the US company hopes to make 100million doses available this year, of which a whopping 40m are destined for the UK.
By 2021, the company aims to manufacture 1.3billion jabs.
Every patient who receives the vaccine will need two doses.
In an interview with the paper, Pfizer UK boss Ben Osborn said: “It was great to see the first vial coming off the manufacturing line.
“It just brought a tremendous smile to my face to see all of this work actually result in a product.”
Pfizer, which is working with Germany’s BioNTech, is currently running a trial on 44,000 people.
Last week, bosses said they will apply for emergency US approval of its vaccine in November.
It comes in a weekend of cheering developments on the progression of a vaccine.
The NHS is preparing to launch a coronavirus vaccine shortly after Christmas, the deputy chief medical officer has revealed in private.
Thousands of NHS staff will be trained to give the Covid jab, which Jonathan Van-Tam says will cut infections and save lives.
Prof Van-Tam told MPs last week that stage three trials of the vaccine created at Oxford University and being manufactured by AstraZeneca mean a mass rollout could come as early as December, The Times reports.
In a briefing to MPs on Monday, he said: “We aren’t light years away from it.
“It isn’t a totally unrealistic suggestion that we could deploy a vaccine soon after Christmas.
“That would have a significant impact on hospital admissions and deaths.”
Coronavirus deaths rose by 150 yesterday in the UK’s deadliest day since June 3.
A further 16,171 people have also tested positive for the disease in the third highest daily rise – bringing the total in Britain to 705,428.
The head of the Oxford Vaccine Group had a more sober take on the news last week, warning Brits may need to social distance and wear face masks until next summer.
Andrew Pollard said that, even if trials are successfully finished by the end of this year, the jab might not be ready until well into 2021.
He said: “Life won’t be back to normal until summer at the earliest. We may need masks until July.”
