The Duke of Cambridge spoke with researchers at the University of Oxford’s Oxford Vaccine Group to congratulate them on their recent coronavirus vaccine breakthrough.
“Well done, I’m so pleased for all of you, I really am,” William told the researchers in the snippet of the video call shared to Kensington Palace’s social media accounts on November 23rd 2020. Those included on the call were Professor Andy Pollard, Professor Sarah Gilbert and Professor Louise Richardson, Vice Chancellor of Oxford University.
“I saw it in everyone’s faces back in June how much time and effort was going into this, and I could see that there was a lot of pressure on everyone, so I’m so thrilled that you’ve cracked it – so really well done.”
The Oxford Vaccine Group announced on Monday that, in partnership with AstraZeneca, that they had developed a candidate vaccine that, after phases and trials, has a high level of protection against COVID-19, with up to 90% effectivity when used in the correct dosing regimen.
According to a statement on the Oxford Vaccine Group’s website, “These preliminary data indicate that the vaccine is 70.4% effective, with tests on two different dose regimes showing that the vaccine was 90% effective if administered at a half dose and then at a full dose, or 62% effective if administered in two full doses.”
The University of Oxford replied to Kensington Palace’s tweet, “Thank you so much for your continued support. It’s an honour to be able to share @OxfordVacGroup’s outstanding work with you.”
William visited the Oxford Vaccine Group back in June to view the progress of their research and to meet volunteers who were participating in trials. At the time, he said, “When it is announced that you have cracked it people will breathe a huge sigh of relief. People want there to be some sort of finality to it.”
“These findings show that we have an effective vaccine that will save many lives,” said Professor Andrew Pollard, the Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and Chief Investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial, in a statement on the University’s website.
“Excitingly, we’ve found that one of our dosing regimens may be around 90% effective and if this dosing regime is used, more people could be vaccinated with planned vaccine supply. Today’s announcement is only possible thanks to the many volunteers in our trial, and the hard working and talented team of researchers based around the world.”
It was revealed earlier this month that William had been diagnosed with COVID-19 in April though he’d kept the diagnosis secret so as not to cause alarm. His diagnosis came at around the same time his father, The Prince of Wales, and the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, revealed their own diagnoses.
