AstraZeneca, the British drugs group, and the University of Oxford, together, have developed the COVID-19 vaccine through which they have achieved the ‘winning formula’ for efficacy, AFP reported. The UK government announced on Wednesday, December 23 that the developers of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine had submitted their data to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for approval for a mass rollout.

The vaccine is currently being evaluated by Britain’s independent medicine regulator, said Pascal Soriot, the company’s chief executive in an interview with Sunday Times newspaper. It provides ‘100 percent protection’ against alarming symptoms of COVID-19 which require hospitalisation, he added.

Also Read: EU nations begin vaccinations, hail it as a ‘key’ to defeat COVID-19

Soriot believes that the trials will show that his firm has achieved a vaccine efficacy equal to Pfizer-BioNTech at 95% and Moderna at 94.5%.

“We think we have figured out the winning formula and how to get efficacy that, after two doses, is up there with everybody else,” the chief executive said explaining that the data would be published at “some point”.

Earlier trials had shown varying outcomes in the AstraZeneca shot’s efficacy. The vaccine initially showed an average of 70 percent effectiveness but that level jumped to 90 percent depending on the dosage.

Soriot said he was “surprised” by the initial findings. “We would have preferred a simpler set of results,” he added.

Also Read: Transfer of COVID-19 antibodies to fetus affected in final months of pregnancy: Study

The approval is expected to be granted on Monday, The Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported.

After the UK’s independent medicines regulator authorised the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, it became the first coronavirus shot to be used on the country’s most vulnerable people since its rollout last month.

The British government has ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine due to Britain’s bulk vaccine requirements. This demand is expected to be met by the jab developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford.