The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) published on Monday 26 October a technical report on the key elements to be considered when introducing and distributing a vaccine against Covid-19 in the EU and the UK.
“The aim is to support, but not to define, EU policy on vaccination against Covid-19”, says the accompanying press release.
At the end of last month, the European Medicines Agency was in discussions with the manufacturers of 39 potential vaccines. The European Commission has signed advance purchase agreements with three manufacturers (AstraZeneca, Sanofi-GSK and Johnson&Johnson) and may sign new ones.
AstraZeneca’s clinical trials resumed on Friday 23 October in the United States, the only country where the trial was still suspended following the appearance of a disease in a participant more than 6 weeks ago. On Monday 26 October, the group even announced, based on the results of its Phase 2 clinical trials, that its candidate was producing an encouraging immune response in both young adults and the elderly.
Johnson & Johnson’s clinical trials are still at a standstill after an unexplained illness in a volunteer, even though the pharmaceutical group said Friday 23 October that it expects them to resume soon.
See the ECDC report: https://bit.ly/31JaLgS (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)