Oxford coronavirus vaccine triggers strong immune response, trial shows

London: British scientists have made a breakthrough in the race to find a coronavirus vaccine, with the first round of human trials showing the shot is safe and induces the strong immune response needed to fend off infection.

The results are highly significant because the University of Oxford vaccine, known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, is considered one of the leading candidates in the global race to bring the devastating pandemic to an end.

Blood samples from coronavirus vaccine trials are handled inside the University of Oxford's Jenner Institute.

Professor Adrian Hill, the director of the university's Jenner Institute, said "it's possible" some people could be given the vaccine as soon as December this year.

But that assessment is based on an assumption that future testing phases produce good results and that regulatory approvals are swiftly granted. The first people to receive the vaccine in December would be those in at-risk categories.

Trials on more than 1077 healthy adults aged 18 to 55 were conducted in British hospitals between April and May. The trial concluded that the vaccine provoked a strong antibody and T cell response, and minor side-effects like headaches, fatigue and chills were able to be treated with paracetamol. two-shot vaccine would have implications for producing and distributing the dosage worldwide. The Oxford researchers are working with scientists from Australia's CSIRO to learn more about the two-dosage issue.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the Oxford results were "very positive news".

"There are not guarantees, we're not there yet and further trials will be necessary, but this is an important step in the right direction," he said.

The results were published by The Lancet medical journal, which also released the findings of a phase-two vaccine trial in China that has produced promising results.

The Chinese researchers also noted that it was "important to stress" that no participants had yet been exposed to the virus after vaccination.

There are more than 250 vaccine candidates in development worldwide, with about two dozen under evaluation in clinical trials.

Asked whether the Oxford vaccine could be released by the end of the year, the Jenner Institute's Hill said: "It's possible there will be a vaccine being used by the end of the year. What that needs is enough cases - probably about 50,000 people - who will be in trials by six weeks' time, and to have an adequate incidence of course of the vaccine working.

"Even if the vaccine worked by early November - it might be a little before that - you might have emergency use authorisation in a month and then you would be deploying in December. It's possible but we certainly can't guarantee it."

Professor Adrian Hill, the director of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford.

The University of Oxford has partnered with multinational pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca to manufacture at least 2 billion doses of the vaccine during the early stages of its potential release.

"The numbers speak for themselves. If you've got more than 7.5 billion people - most of whom will need a vaccine - the most ambitious program of supply is ours with AnstraZeneca which is targeting 2 billion doses in 12 months," Hill said.

A member of the University of Queensland’s vaccine team, which was already working on a “rapid response” vaccine technology when the pandemic hit.

GOOD WEEKEND

One shot to change the world

"But 2 billion doses is not enough if it is going to be deployed globally for everybody who would want a vaccine.

"It's perhaps a little scientifically unlikely that only one vaccine would be perfect and all the others would fail. So if one works well, similar vaccines have a good chance of working too."

The pandemic has killed at least 606,000 people worldwide.