COVID-19: Oxford University Vaccine Shows 70% Protection

Coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University prevents 70 percent of people developing Covid symptoms, a large-scale trial reveals, BBC reports.

It's both a victory and a disappointment that Pfizer and Moderna's vaccines showed 95 percent safety.

However the Oxford Jab is much cheaper, and it's easier to store and get to every corner of the planet than the other two.

So it will still play a significant role in tackling the pandemic if it is approved by regulators.

There are also intriguing data that suggests perfecting the dose could increase protection up to 90%.

The Oxford researchers have performed the normally decade-long process of developing a vaccine in around 10 months.

"The announcement today takes us another step closer to the time when we can use vaccines to bring an end to the devastation caused by [the virus]," said the vaccine's architect Prof Sarah Gilbert.

The UK government has pre-ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford vaccine, enough to immunise 50 million people.

 What did the trial show?

More than 20,000 volunteers were involved, half in the UK, the rest in Brazil.

There were 30 cases of Covid in people who received two doses of the vaccine and 101 cases of people who received a dummy injection.

Researchers have said that it operates at 70% security.

When participants got two "high doses, the safety was 62 per cent, but this improved to 90 per cent when people received a "low dose followed by a high one. It's not clear that there's a disparity here.

"We're really pleased with these results," Prof Andrew Pollard, the trial's lead investigator, told the BBC.

He said the 90% effectiveness data was "intriguing" and would mean "we would have a lot more doses to distribute."

When will I get it?

In the UK there are four million doses ready to go, with another 96 million to be delivered.

But nothing can happen until the vaccine has been approved by regulators who will assess the vaccine's safety, effectiveness, and that it is manufactured to high standard. This process will happen in the coming weeks.

However, the United Kingdom is poised to push the go-button of an unparalleled mass immunization initiative that dwarfs either annual influenza or childhood vaccine programmes.

Care home tenants and employees will be in the queue first, followed by health professionals and over 85. The aim is to work the way down the age groups.

How does it work?

The vaccine is a genetically modified common cold virus that used to infect chimpanzees.

It has been altered to stop it from causing an infection in people and to carry the blueprints for part of the coronavirus, known as the spike protein.

Once these blueprints are inside the body they start producing the coronavirus' spike protein, which the immune system recognizes as a threat and tries to squash.

When the immune system comes into contact with the virus for real, it now knows what to do.

Are the results disappointing?

After both Pfizer and Moderna developed vaccines offering 95 per cent safety from Covid-19, the figure of 70 per cent is comparatively disappointing.

However, just a month ago, something over 50 percent would have been considered a victory.

This vaccine can also be kept at the temperature of the refrigerator, which ensures that it can be spread around the world, unlike Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, which need to be stored at much colder temperatures.