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AZN Stock Down 2% Yesterday, AztraZeneca to Provide 2 Billion COVID-19 Vaccine Doses

European pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca Plc (NYSE: AZN) is set to provide 2 billion doses of its COVID-19 vaccine. The company said that the vaccine could be ready by September. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca (AZN) stock price was down 2.05% yesterday. AZN was trading at $53.87. At the time of filing this report, in the pre-market, Astra Zeneca (AZN) stock is rising 0.61%. Now its price is $54.20.

The company is set to produce 2 billion doses. This amount includes 400 million doses for the U.S. and the United Kingdom. AstraZeneca (AZN) has also indicated that it has signed a deal with the Serum Institute of India. The deal will allow the SII to provide 1 billion doses of the vaccines to developing countries. 400 million of these doses are expected to ship at the end of the year.

The company also wants to start delivering the vaccine in September or October. The deliveries will continue by early next year.

The vaccine was developed at Oxford University. The vaccine named AZD1222 is going to be distributed by companies within the AstraZeneca (AZN) ecosystem. AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot has said that these plans depend on the success of trials that come up in August.

Trials and mass production are expected to occur simultaneously. The risks of such a move are many.

Risks Associated with AstraZeneca Vaccine Deliveries

The safety of human life in this regard hangs in a fragile balance.

No one knows what the long-term consequences of such a vaccine are. As such, creating a vaccine in this scenario on a mass scale will have serious consequences on a large scale.

If the vaccine doesn’t work then the monies spent would have been for nothing. While losses like that can be covered by companies of this size, it still will hurt the revenues at such a time.

Pascal Soriot told the sources:

“We are very focused and very committed. When you have something like this with this sort of pandemic and the tremendous impact it has on people, the economy, et cetera, you can’t second-guess what’s going to happen.”

The Jenner Institute of Oxford University has been working to develop the AZD 1222 vaccine. The vaccine includes a SARS-CoV-2 protein.

Testing has started with about 10,000 volunteers. AstraZeneca has indicated that the vaccine has been “safe and well-tolerated”. Soriot has been optimistic about the chances of the vaccine working. He said that the company is compiling a database of information to ensure safety.

About 50,000 volunteers are expected to take part in the trials in total. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is one of AstraZeneca’s partners. CEPI CEO Richard Hatchett has said:

“Obviously, if the vaccine is successful, placing that early bet on the manufacturing gives a huge payoff because you end up with tens or even hundreds of millions of doses that become available at the earliest possible moment.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) has indicated that there as many as 113 vaccine projects for the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

AZN Stock Down 2% Yesterday, AztraZeneca to Provide 2 Billion COVID-19 Vaccine Doses