Reducing the transmission rate has proven among the most challenging aspects of the pandemic response. The coronavirus has caused more than 26 million infections and 400,000 deaths in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Reducing the transmission rate would help get the virus under control as countries around the world scramble to vaccinate their populations as quickly and safely as possible. British Health Secretary Matt Hancock praised the findings on Twitter as "absolutely superb." "We now know that the Oxford vaccine also reduces transmission and that will help us all get out of this pandemic," he said in an interview with the BBC, according to the New York Times.