As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to inflict a heavy toll on communities and economies around the world, there is hope that the various vaccines being developed may bear fruit sooner rather than later.
As per information, The Lancet’ medical journal has confirmed that it would be publishing early-stage human trial data from the Oxford team on Monday. Researchers at the University of Oxford believe they may have a breakthrough in their search for a Covid-19 vaccine after the team discovered that the jab could provide “double protection†against the deadly coronavirus following early stage human trials, Blood samples taken from a group of UK volunteers given a dose of the vaccine showed that it stimulated the body to produce both antibodies and “killer T-cells.
The discovery is promising because separate studies have suggested that antibodies may fade away within months while T-cells can stay in circulation for years.However, the source cautioned that the results, while “extremely promisingâ€, did not yet prove that the Oxford vaccine provides long-lasting immunity against the deadly virus.
David Carpenter, chairman of the Berkshire Research Ethics Committee, which approved the Oxford trial, said the vaccine team was “absolutely on trackâ€.The vaccine development, by the university’s Jenner Institute, is being supported by the UK government and AstraZeneca, which will support the production phase. The pharmaceutical company said last month that phase one trials were due to finish and a phase three trial had begun which will see the vaccine given to thousands of people so it can be tested for efficacy and safety.
The vaccine, named ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, is based on a weakened version of the common cold that causes infections in chimpanzees. It also contains the genetic material of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 – the strain of coronavirus that causes the Covid-19 illness.