4 European countries have signed agreement to have oxford vaccine by the end of the year

[Blueberryham]

There must be a lot of optimism that this vaccine will work. I thought this was good news.

I said that to my mum yesterday based upon no scientific knowledge at all but thinking they are unlikely to do this unless some promise

I know a few people involved with this - they were saying back in March that they thought it would be ready for September. Hugely optimistic maybe. Then it all went quiet.

Hopefully it does turn out as planned and ready by autumn

I wonder if there is a lot of talk behind the scenes amongst the researchers and medical experts with regards to results to date. No doubt, the researchers already have some sort of idea as to whether this is actually going to work. We are nearly two months since trials for Oxford started so will already have some initial results from phase 1. I know there is still a long way to go but perhaps this is why other countries are now signing deals for this particular vaccine because perhaps the initial results are promising?

What’s the text of the agreement? What happens if the vaccine isn’t shown to be effective?
I wouldn’t necessarily read too much into it. At that level, a country may rather risk losing money than not having access to the vaccine.

The contract could state that it has to work to be fulfilled.

But I do wonder how it’s going and if they have had a signal yet (re working)

The contract could state that it has to work to be fulfilled.

Unless they are collaborating and sharing in the risk by providing investment, it definitely will. It’ll hardly be a Del Boy “no money back, no guarantee”’arrangement!

I read somewhere they are now trialling in Brazil because we don't have enough community transmission.

They also tested it on monkeys. It seemed to stop serious disease but not contracting it in the first place. However they flooded the monkeys with the virus, much more than anyone would expect to be exposed to in day to day life so the fact it was detected on nasal swabs could have been because there was so much there in the first place and not because the monkeys had been infected

I'm in the trial and the doctor doing the screening was incredibly optimistic. Of course, he's got a vested interest (otherwise he's got a PHD in microbiology just to have to explain the science to an idiot like me) but he said that of all the vaccines being trialled, this is the one, none other comes close. And he said September too. He's biased but I'd imagine that AstraZeneca is pretty hard-nosed.

Oh and a relative is also in the trial and they've changed the protocol - I think they've now upped the dose a bit.

So far there have been no side effects (over a thousand vaccines - I don't know if that's in total i.e. half of those are the meningitis one).

The main problem is that most of us won't be stress testing it much, I work from home for example. Hence trialling it on a load of Brazilian health care workers.

I have got ALL my hopes pinned on this vaccine which is definitely healthy . My understanding is that they had the base vaccine ready from previous SARS work that was abandoned when it petered out and they had to top it up to make it Covid 19 specific.

But IMO it isn't just about getting a vaccine ready, it is about public confidence in being vaccinated with such a new vaccine. There will have to be a lot of work around that for it to work and get the population herd immunity. Does anyone have a link to the story about other European countries signing up? It is positive news.

The vaccine has been a glimmer of hope for a while here.

I remember the drive in the car when the first test was reported. I can’t think about it too much because it would be so good if it worked.

That sounds very promising patience. Such good news. I am sorry I don’t know how to link but it is on quite a few news sites. I read one Italian article which seemed excited to announce to their public that this had been agreed.

Public confidence will be so important you are right. I would feel wary myself if I am honest.

Got it: www.cityam.com/astrazeneca-to-supply-europe-with-400m-doses-of-oxford-coronavirus-vaccine/

Spearheaded by Germany, France, Italy and The Netherlands.

Will be fantastic for everyone if this works and a brilliant shot in the arm for UK medical research.

And the US has signed a deal too: news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-race-to-buy-covid-19-vaccines-as-governments-sign-huge-deals-12007363

Thanks for starting the thread, OP. I'm not sure how I have missed this news/why it hasn't been higher up more news sites.

So 4 largest EU countries have signed up for 300m initial doses plus 100m to be distributed & the USA 300m (so both have got enough for their entire populations & france Germany have fall back vaccines) but the UK has signed up for just 30m, which is less than half its population.

Have we signed up for any other potential vaccines?

The deal has been for the UK to have this vaccine first, our government is financing it and it is being manufactured here.

@jasjas1973

So 4 largest EU countries have signed up for 300m initial doses plus 100m to be distributed & the USA 300m (so both have got enough for their entire populations & france Germany have fall back vaccines) but the UK has signed up for just 30m, which is less than half its population.

Have we signed up for any other potential vaccines?

UK have signed up for 100m. 40m for September the rest by the end of the year. Lead investigator for Oxford vaccine said it is likely all of UK will be vaccinated by Christmas.

Amazing

The German news is saying that basically, they have created this "vaccination alliance" and signed up for the vaccine for two reasons -- firstly to make sure that they have access to it if it works, and secondly so that stocks of the vaccine can be built up in advance, in case it does work. The agreement includes advance payments to make this possible.

Remember that last month, the UK signed up for huge amounts of hydroxychloroqine. The Oxford lot will not get any decent results until September at the earliest. The vaccination alliance is also planning on signing up for other vaccines as work continues on them. There are hundreds of projects in different countries.

I picked this up in the German press and posted about it on another thread at the weekend. The Germans are also developing their own vaccine through Curevac and the German govt has invested a further 300m in that this week. The Oxford vaccine is obviously going to be first off the blocks but it is good that the German govt is still investing in a backup plan. The EU has only signed for the Oxford vaccine atm like us but knowing there are backups in the pipeline is reassuring.

And I think I read in the British press that there is an Imperial vaccine that is starting to trial. Lets hope their science dept is more capable than their maths modeling.

@PatienceVirtue May I ask a question because you are on the trial?
My understanding is that only half the group get given the new vaccine and half the meningitis one but you are not told which group you are in.
Have they explained what happens when and if the vaccine gets rolled out nationally? At that point do they tell you which one you had?

I am on the oxford vaccine trial. Phase 2 . I work in a hospital and they wanted healthcare works so lots of us voluteered. I had the jab two weeks ago. Feeling fine. Slightly sore arm and a bit tired next day but otherwise no side effects.
I have weekly swabs, weekly on line diary to complete and blood tests 3 weekly.
It is v impressive operation.
But yes they are moving to Brazil as infection rates in uk not high enough to fully test it.
I go about my business as normal, i guess to see if i catch it or not.
I have full confidence in the team doing it.
I will find out at end of trial if i had the covid vaccine or a meningitis one. It was randomised and even the doctor that administered it to me did not know.
I hope i did have the covid one!