COVID-19: Oxford’s vaccine trial results “definitely” before Christmas, says chief investigator

Results of late-stage trials of University of Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate should definitely be known by Christmas, the chief investigator on the study said on Thursday in a Reuters report, adding it was too early to know its efficacy yet.

Asked if it was too early to say whether the vaccine, which is licensed to AstraZeneca, stops disease developing, Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said: “We haven’t quite got to that point yet. We’re obviously not going to rush that.”

“We’re getting close, and it’s definitely going to be before Christmas, based on the progress,” he told BBC Radio when asked when the trial investigators would be unblinded to efficacy data and results released.

In another development, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has previously criticized Western manufacturers for asking fees to reserve vaccines, has agreed to pay drugmakers in advance to secure millions of COVID-19 shots, his spokesman said on Thursday.

Duterte had also “approved in principle” an executive order so that vaccines, which had been approved overseas for emergency use, can be utilized in the Philippines, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said.

“We agreed to pay in advance because if we don’t, we might be the last among countries to get the vaccine,” Roque told a media briefing, according to Reuters.