Covid vaccine turns into shot with UK redemption

Photographer: Simon Dawson / Bloomberg

Boris Johnson was eager to remind the audience at the Global Vaccine Summit in June that it was British doctor Edward Jenner who pioneered the vaccination. Vaccination against coronaviruses is currently being promoted by the Jenner Institute at Oxford University.

The pandemic blew all the leaders off the course, but Johnson was the hardest hit. Britain has the worst death toll in Europe and the highest death toll Economic meltdown Only a few months after leaving the European Union. Johnson admits that the treatment should be investigated.

So it is the ultimate award after the government’s next humiliation that presents the first universally recognized barrier to Covid-19. Policy U-turn You need to somehow redeem it. Brexit, after all, Showing the world Britain should have lived alone, even in times of crisis.

Johnson is an eternal optimist, the Covid-19 vaccine is the modern Holy Grail, and Britain has found a knight leading the quest for globally accepted vaccination. Despite the failure to procure personal protective equipment for health care workers and virus testing, the reason is due to the history of medical research.

In conversations with scientists, business officials, and government advisers, it explains why the minister moved quickly to control the push.

“The UK is looking for a place in the world as an independent entity and has the opportunity to show true leadership in the vaccine industry,” he said. John Bell, A professor of medicine at Oxford University, is working with the government on a vaccine program.

Given the government’s track record during the pandemic, the risk is high. The team of Oxford, which is a team of Johnson and his two predecessor Oxford, has been public since a clear pioneer in July, a month after the Prime Minister reminded him of British scientific pedigree. There are few signs of betrayal.

Read more: Covid vaccine front runners race a few months ahead

The Jenner Institute was well positioned to start the study in one shot after years of research on the coronavirus, Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS involved.

When the Johnson government discovered that the university was discussing a potential vaccine production with a US pharmaceutical company, they faced that idea and began to develop a strategy to keep it in the UK.

GlaxoSmithKline Plc and AstraZeneca Plc were obvious land makers. Glaxo was in conflict, but a partnership with Astra was quickly agreed one weekend in April. By the end of the month, the British pharmaceutical company and Oxford have announced a deal where Astra will take over manufacturing and large-scale distribution. The government reviewed all paperwork before it was signed.

But betting the house with a single vaccine against a virus that killed more than 775,000 people and killed more than 21 million people is not enough for the UK to have access to a successful jab.

Health Minister Matt Hancock called Kate Bingham, a venture capitalist in the medical industry who helped the government look for new drugs and vaccines, to see if she could lead the effort.

Bingham was mainly chairing the official British Vaccine Task Force, but wanted to clarify one thing. It doesn’t matter how many deals the UK has in it, and in the end it may not have a vaccine. On the phone with Johnson on the afternoon of May 6, Bingham Play a gig..

“I wanted him to understand that this was a difficult battle of heroism,” Bingham said in an interview. “There are still no vaccines for the pathogens we are familiar with, such as HIV and malaria. So I have to make sure there are no unrealistic expectations of how much it will be possible. did.”

There are four main approaches to manufacturing Covid-19 vaccines. The UK strategy is to ensure that the UK has sufficient potential dose from each bucket. Conversely, part of the “Global Bulletin” brand is to share its success with the world.

So far, the Bingham Task Force has purchased 340 million medleys from four groups. Two more deals On Friday.

From the beginning, the British desire to respond to a pandemic on its own terms was clear. The country has opted out of a joint EU procurement program for PPE and ventilators. Cry from the National Health Service Worker. Ministers have repeatedly stated that EU programs offer little benefit to participants.