AstraZeneca – Jordan underlined its commitment to cooperate with the Jordanian government to curb the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and make a positive impact in the region, said Abdulkareem Dissi, the pharmaceutical’s Area Director.
In an interview with the Jordan News Agency (Petra) on Monday evening, Dissi said that the pharmaceutical is actively working with international organizations, governments, healthcare leaders, industry, and civil society to end the pandemic, stressing the need to continue cooperation with the Jordanian government to that end.
AstraZeneca’s partnership with the Jordanian government has led to the delivery of more than 600,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to date. “Thousands of lives are being saved every day as a result of such urgent and committed cooperation,” Dissi noted.
He lauded the efforts exerted by His Majesty King Abdullah II and the government throughout the pandemic to provide the appropriate infrastructure, hospitals and immunization centers, in addition to launching awareness campaigns on the vaccine and providing the highest levels of safety to the Jordanian society. He also highlighted the importance of continuing cooperation with all concerned parties to achieve the best possible outcomes during and after the pandemic.
As one of the leading global, science-led biopharmaceutical business, AstraZeneca plays a key role in fighting the pandemic in Jordan and across the globe, he stated. “Recognizing the urgent need for an effective COVID-19 vaccine to help defeat the virus, we joined forces with the University of Oxford in April 2020 to make a meaningful difference to the course of the pandemic and help save lives. This landmark partnership brought together Oxford University’s world-class expertise in vaccinology with AstraZeneca’s global development and manufacturing capabilities. Together we committed to providing the vaccine broadly and equitably around the world, at no profit during the pandemic period,” Dissi pointed out.
To help meet global demand for a COVID-19 vaccine, AstraZeneca rapidly conducted due diligence with more than 60 potential partners to ultimately build a global supply network of more than 25 proven manufacturing organizations in 15 countries with the capability and capacity to supply the vaccine, he added.
On vaccine safety, Dissi said: “Ensuring the safety of our vaccine is paramount and we are actively working with the regulators and scientific community to understand extremely rare blood clotting events that have been reported, including information to drive early diagnosis and intervention, and appropriate treatment for the condition.”
AstraZeneca, he added, partnered with capable and established organizations, including the Serum Institute of India and R-Pharm, in countries which have large-scale manufacturing capacity to ensure that the vaccine could be manufactured at scale and reach people in need as quickly as possible.
Source: Jordan News Agency