Amazing news. Our team @JennerInstitute are so pleased to see this!

A few quick responses to some pointing out it could be even better (more/cheaper/single-dose) 1/ https://twitter.com/governmentza/status/1355782001178136577

The Ox/AZ/SerumInst deal is incredibly radical- Ox opted out of £££ to make a brand new product available around the world not-for-profit. Please judge imperfections by comparison to Pfizer/Moderna, not vs an imaginary ideal or a company which hasn’t yet delivered any doses.

Quibble #1: ‘It needs 2 doses’. Ox/AZ haven’t done as good a PR job on this as J&J, but the vaccines are similar. Published Ox data shows substantial single dose efficacy if you read tables carefully. Further analysis will be done soon. 2/

And I think all vaccines incl J&J will need boost for optimal long-term effect. 3/

Quibble #2: ‘But Serum Inst are charging more to SA than AZ are charging others’. Firstly, the product remains cheaper, I think, than anything else in market, or many older vaccines which haven’t had the recent R&D costs. 4/

Second, Serum have done an amazing job setting up what may be the best manufacturing operation in the AZ network. Serum have invested aggressively to go really big, really fast. Their start-up costs have been substantial. Materials imported to India may cost more than in EU/US 5/

Quibble #3: ‘it’s not enough’. We know this. We knew there was going to be scarcity. We’ve worked flat out all year to make as much as poss as quick as poss. More is coming, to SA & elsewhere, as quick as humanly & technically possible. 6/

I don’t think any other vaccine development programme has strategically prioritised low/middle income supply as we have. (Yes, I know there are gaps, but it’s the best we could possibly manage) https://twitter.com/sandyddouglas/status/1355565611619934208

Can’t say how proud I am of our team @JennerInstitute without whom set up of manufacturing in India wouldn’t have happened- especially Adrian Hill, @adamjohnritchie & Carina Joe. Probably the most important thing any of us will do in our lives.