U.S. orders 300 million doses of potential COVID-19 vaccine

(Reuters) - The U.S. government has ordered 300 million doses of a potential COVID-19 virus being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and hopes first doses can be made available by October, the Department of Health and Human Services said on Thursday.

"This contract with AstraZeneca is a major milestone in Operation Warp Speed’s work toward a safe, effective, widely available vaccine by 2021," HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement.

(Reporting by Aakash Jagadeesh Babu in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham)

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