LONDON, England: Britain is in discussions with Oxford and AstraZeneca to obtain additional doses of their COVID-19 vaccine, to determine its effectiveness against the South African Covid variant.

Officials said AstraZeneca will fund the upcoming trial.

Britain has thus far purchased 100 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, developed at the University of Oxford and licensed to AstraZeneca. The health ministry said the new AstraZeneca vaccines would target the South African variant.

Oxford has announced that the variant has become a top priority for vaccine developers. Officials at AstraZeneca said they are seeking to release new vaccines against variants by the autumn.

Meanwhile, Britain said these new vaccines could be fast-tracked through the regulatory process, following new guidance in March.

Britain’s health minister Matt Hancock is hosting a summit of Group of Seven counterparts in Oxford this week. Officials said he will use his speech to review Britain’s role in the Oxford-AstraZeneca project.

Hancock will also announce that Britain has reached the milestone of giving three-quarters of the nation’s adults a first COVID-19 vaccine dose, the health ministry said.