OXFORD University’s coronavirus vaccine triggers an immune response in all ages – including the elderly, new results published on Thursday reveals.
In an important step, the jab – being developed with AstraZeneca – was found to “trigger a robust immune response” with no serious side effects in those aged 56-69 and the over 70s.
Phase two data from the ChAdOx1 nCov-2019 vaccine raise hopes of efficacy readings from phase three “in the coming weeks”.
Responding to the news, Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeted: “There is still much work to be done, but this is a really encouraging set of findings from the @UniofOxford and @AstraZeneca vaccine.”
The UK Government has 100million doses of the jab pre-ordered, with four million of those likely to be available next month – if it’s given the green light.
Professor Andrew Pollard, the head of Oxford’s vaccine trial team, today said it’s too early to know the jab’s effectiveness – but the results of late-stage trials should “definitely be known before Christmas”.
Once phase three results are published, AstraZeneca will have to wait for final safety data before they can apply to the MHRA here, and FDA in the US for approval.
It’s only then that the jabs could be rolled out, with the NHS on standby from December 1.
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