Oxford COVID jab gears up for final act: Saving the rest of the world

Indeed, a data analysis for the Guardian by Airfinity, the health analytics company, reveals that despite the jab’s trials and tribulations, it is already reaching every corner of the globe. Among the 2.6bn doses delivered, 166m have gone to Brazil, 84m to Mexico, 60m to Vietnam, 54m to the Philippines, 19m to Nigeria, and 16m to Iran, for example. Even Germany and France, once the sources of slipshod reporting and false claims about the jab, have quietly accepted 31m and 10m doses respectively, the analysis reveals.

Despite the early “excessive hype”, Tang says it remains an “effective” and “useful” vaccine that can still play a big role. “The AZ vaccine is cheap, easy to store and its overall efficacy is still generally sufficient to roll out across many countries to offer protection against severe Covid-19.” Designed to be sold not-for-profit – for about £3 a dose, a fifth of the price of Pfizer’s jab – it recently started turning a modest profit. Rivals have made tens of billions of dollars but Pollard calls AstraZeneca “morally brave” for ignoring the “perverse commercial incentive in a pandemic to sell first to the rich”. A spokesperson says low-income nations will continue to receive the vaccine on a not-for-profit basis.