• Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

maltawinds.comLogo

The Economy's Voice

Menu

Skip to content
  • Home
  • About
  • Local News
  • International News
  • Opinion
  • Demia on Sundays
  • Demeter
  • Business
  • Satire on Sunday
  • EU to tighten travel curbs for virus hot spots as third wave fears mount
  • Fondazzjoni Kreattività launches ŻiguŻajg Season 2020-2021 under the auspices of Dr Lydia Abela

Two experimental Covid-19 vaccines ‘produce strong immune reactions’

Posted by Vento on 21st July 2020 in International News

The studies, published in The Lancet medical journal, constitute a major step on the road towards a viable Covid-19 vaccine

Two Covid-19 vaccine candidates have proven safe for humans and produced strong immune reactions among patients involved in two separate clinical trials, doctors said Monday.

The first trial among more than 1,000 adults in Britain found that the vaccine induced “strong antibody and T cell immune responses” against the novel coronavirus.

A separate trial in China involving more than 500 people showed most had developed widespread antibody immune response.

The studies, published in The Lancet medical journal, constitute a major step on the road towards a Covid-19 vaccine that is effective and safe for widespread use.

The authors of the studies said they encountered few adverse side effects from the vaccine candidates.

They did, however, caution that more research was needed, particularly among older adults, who are disproportionately at risk of dying of Covid-19.

Co-author Sarah Gilbert, from the University of Oxford, said the results “hold promise”.

“If our vaccine is effective, it is a promising option as these types of vaccine can be manufactured at large scale.”

The pandemic has seen an unprecedented mobilisation of funding and research to rush through a vaccine that can protect billions of people worldwide.

Both studies were phase-2 trials, which test whether the vaccine provokes an immune response and can be well tolerated by patients.

For its trial, the team at Oxford used a genetically modified strain of the common cold virus that infects chimpanzees. They manipulated the virus to train cells to recognise the viral spike protein, which helps teach the immune system to recognise Covid-19.

As well as developing antibodies in their blood, patients given the vaccine were found to have developed a robust T cell response,  helping their body identify and neutralise the virus.

“The immune system has two ways of finding and attacking pathogens — antibody and T cell responses,” said Andrew Pollard, a member of the Oxford team.

“This vaccine is intended to induce both, so it can attack the virus when it’s circulating in the body, as well as attacking infected cells.”

The Oxford team found that among the 500 or so patients given the vaccine, their immune response peaked at about 14 days and decreased slightly by day 56 — the end of the study period.

The other 500 patients were instead given the meningitis vaccine as a placebo.

More than one dose?

The second trial, led by China’s Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, used a weakened human cold virus modified to deliver genetic material that teaches cells to recognise the novel coronavirus.

Two groups of patients were given either a high or low dose of the vaccine.

More than 90% of people in both groups showed either antibody or T cell immune responses between 14-28 days post-vaccine.

Side effects in both trials were moderate but authors of the Chinese study said they needed to test the vaccine safety on older patients.

“Elderly people … are an important target population for a Covid-10 vaccine,” said Wei Chen, from the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology.

“It is possible that an additional dose may be needed to induce a stronger immune response in the elderly population.”

source: AFP

Posted in International News | Tagged antibodies, COVID-19, immunity, pandemic, The Lancet, trials, vaccine

About the Author

Avatar

Vento

Related Posts

EU to tighten travel curbs for virus hot spots as third wave fears mount→

Fondazzjoni Kreattività launches ŻiguŻajg Season 2020-2021 under the auspices of Dr Lydia Abela→

British to face ban on entering EU under German plan to shut borders – The Times→

UK records worst daily Covid-19 death rate in the world→

advertisement
  • Posts
  • Comments
  • Tag Cloud
  • EU to tighten travel curbs for virus hot spots as third wave fears mount

    22nd January 2021 / Vento
  • Fondazzjoni Kreattività launches ŻiguŻajg Season 2020-2021 under the auspices of Dr Lydia Abela

    21st January 2021 / Vento
  • Woman who allegedly stole laptop from Nancy Pelosi’s office to sell it to Russia investigated by FBI

    21st January 2021 / Vento
  • British to face ban on entering EU under German plan to shut borders – The Times

    21st January 2021 / Vento
  • The Transport Foundation board meets for the first time – Prospective plans for the transport sector discussed

    21st January 2021 / Vento
  • Avatar
    Joseph Gatt on The government is committed to supporting Malta’s…Both the Business Start (B…
  • Avatar
    Hindi Lyrics on Nurse death toll from COVID-19 hits the…I have been looking for…
  • Avatar
    Mehfooz Roy on US Presidential Elections: Biden leads polls in…You really think sleepy Joe…
  • Avatar
    Peter Buckley on "It is wrong. It is oppressive of…What she says is patently…
  • Avatar
    Carlos on Hungary and Poland to form rule-of-law institute…The article deals with something…
aviation banking Bitcoin blockchain Boris Johnson BOV brexit business China climate change COVID-19 cryptocurrency Donald Trump ECB economy Education environment EU euro area Europe European Commission European Parliament European Union Eurostat eurozone finance France Germany Government Infrastructure Malta investment Italy lockdown Malta maritime pandemic politics restrictions technology travel UK United States US vaccine WHO

News Calendar

July 2020
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
« Jun   Aug »
Footer logo
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
 




 
 
 

Copyright © 2016 MaltaWinds.com

Menu

  • About
  • Home