Trial results boost orders for Oxford covid vaccine

Tests of the vaccine against COVID-19, developed by  Oxford University with the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, confirm that a single dose “increased four times the amount of antibodies against the peak protein of the new SARS-CoV coronavirus. -2 in 95% of the participants ”, one month after the injection says a report, published in the British scientific journal The Lancet

A T-cell response (which helps fight the coronavirus) was induced in all participants, peaking on day 14, and maintained for two months after injection.

Neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2 was also observed in 91% of the 1,777 participants, one month after vaccination, and in 100% of the participants who received a second dose.

Andrew Pollard, chief investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial clinical study at the university and co-author of the trial, said these preliminary data show that the vaccine did not cause any unexpected reactions and had a similar safety profile to previous vaccines.

Pollard added that the observed immune responses are aligned with what was expected, although the rigorous clinical trial program must continue to confirm this.

He also said that the immune response was stronger in the participants who received two doses of the vaccine, indicating that this could be a good strategy for vaccination.

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said in a statement that it remains committed to broad and equitable access to the vaccine, should late-stage clinical trials succeed.

So far, commitments to supply more than two billion doses of the vaccine have been agreed with the United Kingdom; U.S; the Inclusive Vaccines Alliance of Europe; the Coalition for the Preparation of Epidemics; GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Serum Institute of India.