The AstraZeneca pharmaceutical company, still the front-runner in the international race to produce a vaccine for coraonavirus, announced today that despite this week's suspension of its trials due to the illness of one of the trial's volunteers, they are likely to know by the end of the year whether the vaccine is effective.
According to Reuters, chief executive Pascal Soriot said it was "very common" for trials to pause and that "the difference with other vaccine trials is, the whole world is not watching them."
AstraZeneca has also stated that it intends to supply vaccines to countries simultaneously in order to ensure a fair and equitable distribution, and that the company is close to having the capacity to produce 3 billion doses at sites already set up around the world.