Coronavirus vaccine latest update: AstraZeneca ‘ready to roll out’ COVID-19 vaccine in September and more updates you need to know

COVID-19 cases have topped the seven million mark today (June 08) globally. India too is seeing a surge in the number of cases every day. While there still is a long way to go before we put the pandemic behind us, trials and research are going on at warp speed to attend to the crisis at large. Many potential treatments have shown promising results in the clinical trial stage, while some are carrying on production. We recap all the recent development as the world waits for a COVID-19 vaccine with bated breath:

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British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, who has joined hands with the University of Oxford was one of the first ones to produce a vaccine prototype which reached the clinical trial stage. After early hiccups and observations, the researchers have now said that they are all set to “roll out” their vaccine candidate for the masses in the months of September or October, with production for two million doses underway.

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The news comes after researchers producing the vaccine, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 got approvals to start mid-scale trials in Brazil, which is one of the worst affected countries in the world.

In a statement, its chief executive said that developments are on track,

“Our present assumption is that we will have the data by the end of the summer, by August, so in September we should know whether we have an effective vaccine or not.”

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Japan, which had to postpone the Olympics scheduled for 2020 has said that the officials are working round the clock to test a vaccine against COVID-19. According to reports, production is underway and plans to launch the vaccine for the population is set to roll out by the first half of 2021. Japan has also decided to pool resources with other countries to speed up production and vaccine development.

Just recently, health officials approved the usage of an experimental drug, Avigan for treatment of coronavirus, which will also be made available to other countries.

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The United States, which has recorded a surge of coronavirus cases in the recent months, has come ahead and said that they have procured over two million doses to be administered to prevent the spread of the virus if they meet necessary safety checks. The government has shortlisted five companies to speed up the production of an effective vaccine in the global race.

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Leading scientists from Singapore have expedited the process of vaccine development, with positive hopes of starting the human trial stage as soon as next month. The Singaporean vaccine is similar to that of the vaccine produced by Moderna Inc, which has received positive reviews in phase 1 of its clinical trials. However, e