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Trials Of Coronavirus Vaccine Start "This Thursday" Says Health Secretary

A coronavirus vaccine "will be trialled in people from this Thursday" says the Health Secretary Matt Hancock - the same day it has been confirmed a mobile testing unit will arrive on the Isle of Wight. As previously reported, testing is expected to be carried once the unit is set up - which the Island's MP and Leader of the Isle of Wight Council say should reassure us and means we do not have to go to the mainland for testing. There are currently 73 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on the Island. Speaking at the daily news briefing Mr Hancock said developing a vaccine is an "uncertain science" but that two of the leading developments - one at Oxford University and one at Imperial College London - are "making rapid progress". He pledged £42.5m to support and fund clinical trials which he promised "will be trialled in people from this Thursday". Meanwhile, on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), he claimed there have been one billion items delivered and the government is "working day and night" to get more suppliers to make more products. It comes as the Isle of Wight NHS Trust's Cheif Executive, Maggie Oldham, told Isle of Wight Radio staff "do have necessary PPE".

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