AstraZeneca's vaccine has reached Phase 3 clinical trials: Trump

AstraZeneca said today that it has taken up late-stage study by enrolling 30,000 subjects in order to come up with the COVID-19 vaccine.

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"I am pleased to announce that AstraZeneca's vaccine has reached Phase 3 clinical trials and has joined various vaccines that are close to the end. In the United States, we are doing things that people thought were not possible," the US president said.

The US government had put "Operation Warp Speed" into effect in order to accelerate efforts to find a vaccine as quickly as possible.

The company said it could have "data by October" to support US emergency use authorization. President Trump had earlier claimed that a vaccine would be available in the US before the November 3 elections.

AstraZeneca has been developing the vaccine in collaboration with Oxford University researchers and Pfizer.

Also Read: Is Trump pressurising FDA to issue a coronavirus vaccine before completing trials?

The company said that participants for the trial will receive two doses of the experimental vaccine AZD1222, four weeks apart

Stephen Hahn the head of the US Food and Drug Administration(FDA) had said that the agency could give emergency approval to a vaccine before the end of trials, however, he added that "we may find that appropriate. We may find that inappropriate, we will make a determination.”

However, Hahn said that "this is not going to be a political decision."  "This is going to be a science, medicine, data decision," Hahn insisted.

"Our emergency use authorization is not the same as a full approval," he said, meaning that it would be only for specific, "high-risk groups".