The Covid-19 vaccine being developed at the University of Oxford is safe and induces an immune reaction, findings of the first phases of the study suggest.Professor Sarah Gilbert, of the University of Oxford, said: "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.
With global coronavirus cases continuing to increase, scientists have been working around the clock to develop an effective vaccine.The Phase 1 and 2 trials showed encouraging results, and found that the vaccine is safe, causes few side effects and induces a strong immune response to the virus.
Antibody responses peaked by day 28 after vaccination, and remained high until the measurement at day 56. Now, more than 10,000 volunteers - including over 70s and 5-12-year-olds - have been enrolled in the second and third phases of the trial.The vaccine, called ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, is made from a virus ChAdOx1, which is a weakened version of a common cold virus that causes infections in chimpanzees, that has been genetically changed so that it is possible to grow in humans.
The delay is due to the fact that infection rates are now so low in the UK, according to Professor Sarah Gilbert, who is leading the research.