Coronavirus live news: Oxford vaccine is 70% effective; global cases near 60m

Vaccine from Oxford University and AstraZeneca is 70.4% effective; US suffers one Covid death every minuteUS, Germany and UK could start Covid vaccinations as early as DecemberMass testing to be rolled out in England to head off Tory revoltMillions in US to ignore warnings against Thanksgiving travelWhy the race to find a vaccine is far from overSee all our coronavirus coverage 7.22am GMT AstraZeneca and Oxford University announced their jab has been shown to work in different age groups, including the elderly.The UK has placed orders for 100m doses of it – enough to vaccinate most of the population – with rollout expected in the coming weeks if the jab is approved. AstraZeneca’s chief executive Pascal Soriot, has said:Today marks an important milestone in our fight against the pandemic. This vaccine’s efficacy and safety confirm that it will be highly effective against Covid-19 and will have an immediate impact on this public health emergency.Furthermore, the vaccine’s simple supply chain and our no-profit pledge and commitment to broad, equitable and timely access means it will be affordable and globally available, supplying hundreds of millions of doses on approval. 7.17am GMT Oxford University said interim analysis from its phase 3 vaccine trial shows the 70% effectiveness comes from combining two doses. One was 90% effective, the other 62%.Prof Andrew Pollard, the director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and chief investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial, said:These findings show that we have an effective vaccine that will save many lives. Excitingly, we’ve found that one of our dosing regimens may be around 90% effective and if this dosing regime is used, more people could be vaccinated with planned vaccine supply.Today’s announcement is only possible thanks to the many volunteers in our trial, and the hard working and talented team of researchers based around the world.The announcement today takes us another step closer to the time when we can use vaccines to bring an end to the devastation caused by SARS-CoV-2. We will continue to work to provide the detailed information to regulators. It has been a privilege to be part of this multi-national effort which will reap benefits for the whole world. Continue reading... https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/nov/23/coronavirus-live-news-us-germany-and-uk-may-start-covid-vaccinations-in-december #world_news #us_news #uk_news #germany #europe #australia_news