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COVID-19 vaccine | UK reserves 190 million doses from Valneva

Valneva said it expects to begin trials of the two-dose vaccine in December and if it is successful for it to become available in the second half of 2021.

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Britain has secured access to up to 190 million doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine from French-Austrian biotech company Valneva, AFP reported.

The deal between the UK and Valnevaworth as much as 1.37 billion euros, the firm said on September 14.

It had already been disclosed in July that the British government had reserved 60 million doses of Valneva's inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine under development.

The firm said it expects to begin trials of the two-dose vaccine in December and if it is successful for it to become available in the second half of 2021.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

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How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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The 60 million doses supplied to Britain in 2021 would come at a cost of 470 million euros ($557 million).

Britain will then have options on 40 million doses in 2022 and between 30 and 90 million across 2023 to 2025, which would cost 900 million euros.

"We are honoured to have been chosen by the UK Government and are eager to partner with them to address this terrible ongoing pandemic," Valneva CEO Thomas Lingelbach was quoted as saying in a statement.

Also Read: Coronavirus vaccine expected by March; senior citizens, healthcare workers will be given priority: Harsh Vardhan

Valneva said the British government has also committed to invest into expanding the company's manufacturing site in Scotland which would allow it to become a major vaccine facility.

"This new agreement could help us vaccinate millions of people across the country, as well as help create a UK vaccine manufacturing facility to speed up access to a potential COVID-19 candidate and boost the country’s resilience against future pandemics," said Britain's Business Secretary Alok Sharma.

Britain has struck agreements with a number of pharmaceutical firms developing vaccines against the novel coronavirus in order to ensure it has access to an effective innoculation, including BioNTech, Pfizer, Janssen pharmaceuticals and Novavax.

Shares in Valneva jumped more than 20 percent in early morning trading in Paris.

(With inputs from AFP)

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