VACCINE FOR CHRISTMAS
Breakthrough as Oxford scientists reveal their jab DOES work – and could be ready in December
A VACCINE to end the coronavirus pandemic could be available by Christmas following a British breakthrough.
Oxford University yesterday published results showing the vaccine it is developing is safe and provides ‘double protection’ against Covid-19.
In a trial of more than 1,000 volunteers, everyone given the jab had a strong immune response. It is not yet known if the vaccine can stop people getting or spreading coronavirus. This will be revealed in the coming weeks after further research.
But in a vital first step, it has exceeded expectations by producing both the antibodies which stop coronavirus getting into cells and the killer T-cells which rapidly destroy infected cells to prevent further spread.
Boris Johnson tweeted that the results were ‘very positive news’. It came as:
■ The share price of drugs firm AstraZeneca, which is manufacturing the Oxford vaccine, hit record highs, adding £1.7 billion to the company’s market value;
■ A separate trial found that an inhaled drug developed by UK scientists dramatically cuts the odds of Covid-19 patients becoming severely ill;
■ The official UK coronavirus death toll rose by 11 to reach 45,312;
■ Blackburn overtook Leicester as the area with the highest rate of coronavirus infection in the country;
■ England’s most senior nurse confirmed she was dropped from a Downing Street briefing after saying lockdown rules applied to everyone at the height of the row over
Dominic Cummings’ controversial journey to Durham;
Marks & Spencer said it was preparing to lay off almost 1,000 staff after being hit by the Covid19 crisis.
Hopes of a vaccine being ready this year had been dented after Britain’s lockdown saw a dramatic fall in cases of coronavirus. This has made it harder to tell in clinical trials if the jab was preventing people from getting the disease.
But following yesterday’s results, Professor Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute at Oxford University, said a vaccine could be ready by the end of the year.
He added: ‘Even if it worked by early November – and it might be a little before that – you might have emergency use authorisation in a month, and then you would be deploying in December.’
Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, co-leader of the government-led Vaccine Taskforce, said: ‘Over time the news is getting better
‘The high end of our expectations’
and more promising. I think it’s a very, very best-case scenario that we will have some vaccine this side of Christmas – but I think it’s possible.’
The Oxford vaccine, which is a frontrunner in global efforts to end the pandemic, was used in a trial involving 1,077 volunteers aged 18 to 55 across five UK hospitals between April 23 and May 21.
The results, published in the Lancet medical journal, are for the first 56 days of the trial, which is still ongoing.
Scientists found that those vaccinated produced ‘neutralising’ antibodies which can lock on to the coronavirus, blocking it before it can infect the patient by getting into their cells. These antibodies were present in all 35 people given one type of test, and 32 out of 35 given another type of test, within a month of being vaccinated.
But vaccinated people also needed to show a boost in T-cells – another part of the immune system which attack and destroy cells which have been infected by coronavirus so it cannot spread through the body.
This T-cell response was found in every person who was given the Oxford jab within two weeks of vaccination.
The results raise hopes that, if the vaccine is found to prevent people falling ill with coronavirus, it could be available for those most at risk by the end of the year. That could see the elderly, healthcare workers and those with health conditions that put them at greater risk from coronavirus contacted by their GP to get a jab. AstraZeneca, which is mass-manufacturing the Oxford vaccine even before it is known to work, is aiming to produce 30 million doses for people in the UK before September and two billion doses to be distributed worldwide. Professor Hill described the results as being ‘at the high end of what our expectations might have been six months ago’. However, as promising as the Oxford vaccine appears, experts caution that the immunity it provides may still not be strong enough to beat coronavirus. It may also be less effective in older people, who are among those being given the vaccine in the next large- scale trial of more than 10,000 volunteers. The results so far suggest the vaccine is safe, with no severe adverse side effects, although some people suffered from fatigue and headaches, which could be controlled with paracetamol. The study suggests a second dose of the vaccine may provide the best antibody results, meaning people may need a ‘booster’ jab. Now the world must wait to see if the vaccine can protect people against coronavirus, as the immune responses suggest it can.
The Oxford University clinical trials, which gave some people the coronavirus vaccine and others a useless meningitis vaccine, will reveal this if people in the meningitis vaccine group fall ill and those in the coronavirus vaccine group do not.
Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, said he hoped to deliver results on whether the vaccine works between September and November.
Alex Harris, of research charity Wellcome, said: ‘This is just one crucial step but it’s very encouraging, and builds on the incredible global research effort during this crisis. To see promising results from several candidates in months is remarkable, but we must also be prepared for some candidates to fail in the later stages and be realistic about timeframes for manufacturing and rollout.’