Washington: US President Donald Trump has announced that the vaccine for coronavirus being developed by AstraZeneca has reached phase three clinical trials in the country and is very close to being finalised for approval.
"I am pleased to announce that the AstraZeneca vaccine has reached phase three clinical trials," Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.
"That's joining another group of vaccines that are very close to the end, and hopefully, approval," he added.
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AstraZeneca is one of the leaders in the race to develop the COVID-19 vaccine. Other companies that have vaccines in phase 3 trials include Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc.
"In the US, we're doing things that nobody thought would have been even possible. This is a process that would have taken, in some cases, years, and we did it in a matter of months," Trump said.
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The National Institute of Health separately announced that the phase 3 clinical trials evaluating an investigational COVID-19 vaccine known as AZD1222 will enroll approximately 30,000 adult volunteers at 80 sites in the US to evaluate if the candidate vaccine can prevent symptomatic COVID-19.
The UK-based global biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is leading the trial as the regulatory sponsor. "Safe and effective vaccines will be essential to meet the global need for widespread protection against COVID-19," said National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony Fauci.
PTI
