Oxford COVID-19 vaccine shows promise, early results show

Researchers at Oxford University have confirmed that a vaccine, which is in the early stages of development, has shown promise. It is understood that the vaccine induces an immune reaction and is safe, but the team stressed that there is still a long road ahead.

Researchers tested the vaccine, which is in Phase 1/2 trial, on over 1,000 healthy adults. Their findings showed that the vaccine induced strong antibody and T cell immune responses for up to 56 days.

Speaking about the results, Professor Sarah Gilbert commented, “There is still much work to be done before we can confirm if our vaccine will help manage the Covid-19 pandemic, but these early results hold promise.”

She stressed, “As well as continuing to test our vaccine in phase-three trials, we need to learn more about the virus – for example, we still do not know how strong an immune response we need to provoke to effectively protect against Sars-Cov-2 infection. If our vaccine is effective, it is a promising option as these types of vaccine can be manufactured at large scale.”

She added, “A successful vaccine against Sars-Cov-2 could be used to prevent infection, disease and death in the whole population, with high-risk populations such as hospital workers and older adults prioritised to receive vaccination.”

The study was published in The Lancet.