AstraZeneca sees surge in Covid vaccine sales as jabs are rolled out globally

Sales of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine have soared to 1.2 billion US dollars (Brian Lawless/PA)

Drugs giant AstraZeneca has revealed sales of its Covid-19 vaccine soared to $1.2bn (€1bn) in the first half as the global jab programme rolled out at pace.

The group, which developed the jab with Oxford University, said vaccine sales more than tripled between the first and second quarters, rocketing from $275m (€231.5m) to $894m (€753m) in the three months to June 30.