2 Billion Doses Of Oxford's COVID-19 Vaccine To Be Made Available

AstraZeneca, the UK-based pharmaceutical firm, announced that it will produce 2 billion doses of University of Oxford’s potential COVID-19 vaccine, AZD1222, in coalition with Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, and the Serum Institute of India (SII). In a statement, AstraZeneca said it had signed a $750m agreement with CEPI and Gavi to support the manufacturing, procurement and distribution of 300 million doses of the potential vaccine. The company has also signed a licensing agreement with SII to supply one billion doses for low-and-middle-income countries, with a commitment to provide 400 million doses before the end of 2020. CEPI and GAVI are charities supported the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Health Organisation.