Spain to buy 30 million 'Oxford vaccines' against Covid-19
Wednesday, August 26, 2020 @ 1:27 PM
SPAIN has just arranged to buy its first Covid-19 vaccines as part of a European Union-wide scheme.
Scientists at Oxford University (UK) are at the clinical trials stage of the vaccine they are developing for the pharmaceutical company Astrazeneca, and which is said to be farther ahead than most other research projects in the same area.
According to the European Commission, purchase and distribution of the Oxford vaccine will be spread out 'fairly' across the bloc, based upon the population size of each country and their epidemiological data.
Spain is said to have bought 30 million doses of the vaccine 'off-plan', meaning there will be enough for two-thirds of the population.
The European Commission's negotiating committee is, however, still in talks with other pharmaceutical companies which are developing alternative vaccines, in order to ensure that all the EU's inoculation needs – and those of third countries – can be met.
Spain's health ministry says two of these negotiations are 'at a very advanced stage now' and that the companies involved are due to present an 'official proposal very shortly'.
This is as a result of Spain's having joined the European Vaccine Strategy in July – a scheme which aims to establish a unique continent-wide position that guarantees universal and fair access to the vaccine to protect the bulk of the population.
Astrazeneca is currently testing the Oxford vaccine on patients worldwide for safety and efficiency, involving around 10,000 volunteers.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com