UK begins Covid-19 vaccine trial

Scientists at Imperial College London will start immunising people in Britain this week with their experimental coronavirus vaccination.

In a statement yesterday, the British Government said 300 healthy people would be immunised with two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine candidate developed at Imperial, which has been backed by £41 million ($80 million) in government funding.

So far, the vaccine candidate developed by Imperial College London has only been tested in animals and in the laboratory, where it produced much higher levels of antibodies than normally seen in infected people.

Many scientists have warned that the pandemic might only be stopped with an effective vaccine, which typically takes years to develop.

“In the long term, a viable vaccine could be vital for protecting the most vulnerable, enabling restrictions to be eased and helping people get back to normal life,” said Robin Shattock, who is leading the vaccine research.

The vaccine uses synthetic strands of genetic code based on the virus. Once injected into muscle, the body’s own cells are instructed to make copies of a spiky protein on the coronavirus. That should in turn trigger an immune response so that the body can fight off any future Covid19 infection.

The World Health Organisation said there have been about 100,000 new cases reported every day for the past two weeks and relaxed restrictions in many countries have led to a new surge of cases.