UK set to clear Astra shot; Novavax starts late-stage trial in US

Lockdowns in UK could ease in weeks with introduction of another vaccine

The UK is poised to approve the Covid-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, giving the country another powerful tool to fight the pandemic as concern mounts over rising infections.
 
UK’s drug regulator could clear the shot for use as early as this week, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified.
 
The go-ahead would come about three weeks after the UK became the first western country to begin vaccinations.  Lockdowns in the UK could be eased at the end of February as the imminent approval of a Covid-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca will permit the vaccination of as many as 15 million of the country’s most vulnerable people, the Mail on Sunday reported.
 
The country’s health service would no longer be at risk of being overwhelmed by virus cases.
 
In other news, Russia has decided to keep flights to and from UK suspended until the end of January 12.
 
Novavax starts late-stage trial
 
Novavax has begun a large late-stage study of its experimental Covid vaccine in the United States, the drug developer said on Monday, after delaying the trial twice due to issues in scaling up the manufacturing process.
 
It will enroll up to 30,000 volunteers across about 115 sites in the United States and Mexico, with two-thirds of them receiving the shot.
 

Russia to test new Covid antibody drug next year 
 
Russia will begin trials of an antibody treatment for Covid patients next year, the head of the Moscow institute that developed the country's first vaccine against the new disease said on Monday.
 
Pfizer delays deliveries to 8 European nations
 
Pfizer has delayed delivery of its Covid vaccine to eight nations in Europe, including Spain, the Spanish health ministry said in a statement on Monday, a day after immunisation in EU began.