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Coronavirus: UK rolls out Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine but new strains are cause for ‘incredible worry’
- The vaccine is seen as a game-changer by many experts because it does not require very cold temperatures for storage
- However, scientists are reportedly concerned that vaccines may not work on a new variant of the coronavirus found in South Africa
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Britain on Monday began rolling out the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, a possible game-changer in fighting the disease worldwide, while China raced to inoculate millions with a home-grown prophylactic.
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Britain started the new drive with 530,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, as it struggled to control a severe wave of infections that has threatened to overwhelm the public health system and prompted the government to warn tougher curbs can be expected.
The vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, is seen as a game-changer by many experts because it does not require very cold temperatures for storage like the ones from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
That could mean greater access to the vaccine for less wealthy parts of the world in the fight against the coronavirus, which has infected nearly 85 million people with more than 1.8 million known deaths.
Brian Pinker, an 82-year-old retired maintenance manager, received the first jab at Oxford’s Churchill Hospital, NHS England said.
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“I’m very pleased that I got the Oxford vaccine,” he said, adding that it was a “no-brainer” to get the shot.
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