A hospital doctor has welcomed today’s approval of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine as a real step forward in the fight against Covid-19.
Dr Patrick Lillie, consultant in infectious diseases at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has been among those leading trials of the vaccine from Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham.
The first patients taking part in local trials were screened at the hospital on 26th May. Since then, almost 500 people have been recruited from across the Humber, Coast and Vale area to help test the vaccine, accounting for around 1 in every 50 trial participants across the globe.
Speaking after the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) gave the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine approval for use in the UK today, Dr Lillie said:
“For almost a year now, we have seen the debilitating and sometimes deadly effects which Covid-19 can have on patients within our hospitals and the impact this has on their loved ones.
“As a specialist infectious diseases unit, we felt it was important to support research into the virus and so for the past seven months, we have been supporting the Oxford University trials and recruiting patients from a broad range of age groups.
“To hear that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine has now been authorised as safe and effective to use is great news, and it’s thanks in part to the dedication of our clinical trials team here and the support of all our trial participants.
“We’re really proud to have been involved. It’s good to know we’ve played a part in a development which will hopefully, ultimately, help to bring this pandemic to an end, not just in the UK but around the world.
“This is really encouraging news at the end of what has been an extremely difficult year for us all, but it will take time to roll out. In the meantime, we all still need to keep practising Hands-Face-Space and following all relevant guidance to reduce the spread of the virus.”