Oxford COVID-19 vaccine shows real promise

ISLAMABAD, July 22 (online): The Oxford adenovirus COVID-19 vaccine is safe and elicits significant immune responses in study volunteers.

Among the myriad of vaccine candidates that researchers across the globe are developing to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, the Oxford vaccine has already garnered significant attention.

The vaccine, which the researchers call ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 but many refer to as the Oxford vaccine, uses a weakened adenovirus from chimpanzees.

the researchers previously demonstrated that the vaccine could protect rhesus macaques on subsequent exposure to the new coronavirus. This research has not been through full peer review yet.

A further study, which has also not undergone peer review yet, indicated that pigs were able to produce neutralizing antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, in addition to showing T cell responses. A second booster shot led to an enhanced antibody response, the authors write.

The latest results shows that the vaccine is safe in humans and that it also produces a measurable immune response. Experts have reacted with cautious enthusiasm to the preliminary findings.

For their study, the researchers recruited 1,077 volunteers at five study sites across the U.K., half of whom received the Oxford vaccine while the other half received a meningitis vaccine, which served as the control.

The average age of the study participants was 35, the gender split was roughly equal, and 90.9% were white.

Side effects in response to the Oxford vaccine were common but generally mild. They included fatigue, headaches, pain at the injection site, and flu-like symptoms. Prophylactic acetaminophen, which a subset of volunteers received, was effective in reducing these symptoms.

The quantity of antibodies that the team measured peaked 28 days after injection and remained elevated at 56 days.

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