Oxford-AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 Vaccine Shows Encouraging Results, According To Scientists

• The coronavirus vaccine by The University of Oxford and drug manufacturer AstraZeneca has shown promising results during human trials.
• The World Health Organization has likewise mentioned the vaccine’s development is “good news,” although they were quick to add that much work remains to be done.
• Further trials are needed but if things go as planned, millions of doses will be available for the public by the end of 2020.

The early trials of Oxford University scientists’ coronavirus vaccine is looking very promising. According to the team, the said vaccine has been given to hundreds of individuals and they have since showed strong immune response, a good sign in the ongoing battle against the dreaded disease that has since infected millions across the world.

Called the AZD1222, the vaccine is currently under development by pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and the Univeristy of Oxford in the United Kingdom. No serious side effects have been detected among those who have received it, according to the research published in the medical journal The Lancet.

Oxford University’s Vaccine Group Co-Director Dr Adrian Hill shared:

“We are seeing good immune response in almost everybody. What this vaccine does particularly well is trigger both arms of the immune system.”

The vaccine produced neutralizing antibodies which plays a huge role in defeating the infection.

World Health Organization head of emergencies Dr Michael Ryan said the vaccine’s result is definitely “good news” but added a lot of work still needs to get done.

In a Geneva news broadcast, he said:

“We now need to move into larger-scale real-world trials. But it is good to see more data and more products moving into this very important phase of vaccine discovery.”

Meanwhile, Columbia University professor of epidemiology and medicine Wafaa el-Sadr believes we’re “looking at six months” to see if the vaccine will be effective and safe enough to be mass produced.

The next step, of course, is for larger trails. This time 10,000 people in the UK will be involved and then 30,000 more in the United States.

If things all go as planned, millions of doses will be ready before the year ends.

Reports likewise tell us that AstraZeneca has specified they will not seek any profit from the vaccine amid the global pandemic and that they will work with governments across the world for faster distribution.

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