Washington, September 1: US President Donald Trump on Monday announced AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine has reached Phase 3 clinical trials in the United States and is very close to being finalised for approval.

"I am pleased to announce that AstraZeneca's vaccine has reached Phase 3 clinical trials and has joined various vaccines that are very close to the end. In the United States, we are doing things that people thought were not possible," Trump said in a press conference.

He said that process could have taken years but his administration did in a matter of months. AstraZeneca also announced that its vaccine, developed by researchers at Oxford University will enroll approximately 30,000 adult volunteers at 80 sites in the US. COVID-19 Vaccines Deal: European Commission Signs First Deal of 300 Million Coronavirus Vaccine Doses from AstraZeneca.

"Trial centres across the US are recruiting up to 30,000 adults aged 18 years or over from diverse racial, ethnic and geographic groups who are healthy or have stable underlying medical conditions, including those living with HIV, and who are at increased risk of infection from the SARS-CoV-2 virus," AstraZeneca said in a statement.

The phase 3 trial is being implemented as part of Operation Warp Speed in the US, which aims to deliver 300 million doses of a safe, effective vaccine for COVID-19 by January 2021. The AstraZeneca shot is one of the leaders in the race to develop Covid-19 vaccine. Other companies that have Covid-19 vaccines in phase 3 trials include Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc.

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