The University of Oxford describes the progression of its vaccine as “very well”. Phase one trial of the vaccine began in April 200 with over 1,000 immunizations of the candidates. In the next phase, around 10,260 adults and children will be enrolled to assess the immunity response of the vaccine in different age groups.
The head of the Oxford Vaccine Group, Andrew Pollard said, “The clinical studies are progressing very well and we are now initiating studies to evaluate how well the vaccine induces immune responses in older adults, and to test whether it can provide protection in the wider population.”
He expressed gratitude towards trial volunteers and said, “We are very grateful to the huge support of the trial volunteers in helping test whether this new vaccine could protect humans against the pandemic coronavirus.”
“We have had a lot of interest already from people over the age of 55 years who were not eligible to take part in the phase I study, and we will now be able to include older age groups to continue the vaccine assessment.”
‘How the vaccine works on a large group of people and does it prevent people from being infected’ will be assessed in phase three of this study. The initial results are expected by September.
“The Covid-19 vaccine trial team have been working hard on assessing the safety and immunogenicity of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, and preparing to assess vaccine efficacy,” says Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccine at the Jenner Institute.
Participants above the age of 18 in the study will be given one or two doses of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 or licensed MenACWY vaccine randomly during the second and third phase to compare the efficiency of both the vaccines. The ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 is made from ChAdOx1, weakened version of adenovirus (common cold virus). This virus causes infections in chimpanzees and thus, the vaccine has been genetically changed so that it does not replicate in humans.
AstraZeneca, popular biopharma firm has tied up with the University of Oxford for mass production of vaccine if the results of the study turn out to be successful.