Oxford COVID-19 vaccine early trial shows positive result, India to start trial next month

The human trial of COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by the University of Oxford and backed by AstraZeneca Plc has shown a positive result.
Officially known as AZD1222, the vaccine has prompted a protective immune response in hundreds of people who got the shot, according to a report published in British medical journal Lancet. The vaccine did not prompt any serious side effects, the journal said.
The researchers said that they found their experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced a dual immune response in people aged 18 to 55. “We are seeing good immune response in almost everybody,” said Dr. Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute at Oxford University.
“What this vaccine does particularly well is trigger both arms of the immune system,” he said.
Hill said that neutralizing antibodies are produced — molecules which are key to blocking infection. In addition, the vaccine also causes a reaction in the body’s T-cells which help to fight off the coronavirus.