Preliminary results from a coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University have arrived and it appears to be safe and enabling the immune system to fight the disease.
It was tested on 1,077 people and injected into their bodies to make antibodies and white blood cells to fight the coronavirus.
The results of this study are very promising, but it is too early to say that it is enough to protect against this disease and it requires large-scale trials.
The UK has already ordered 10 million doses of the drug.
The BBC's health correspondent James Gallagher says the main purpose of the trials is to make sure they can be given safely to more people.
But we may also find out the reaction of the immune system to the 'jab', whether it produces antibodies or activates other parts of the immune system.
"What we don't know today is whether the vaccine 'works', whether it protects you from infection or at least reduces the symptoms."
This requires a large number of people to be included in the trials, even in countries with far more cases of the coronavirus than in the United Kingdom.
How does the vaccine work?
This vaccine is called ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, which is being developed so fast that there is no precedent for it.
The vaccine is being developed from a genetically modified virus that infects monkeys with the common cold.
The virus has been modified so that it does not infect humans and looks like a coronavirus.
To do this, scientists have transmitted the genetic properties of coronavirus-like proteins in the body to the vaccine. This means that the vaccine will be similar to the coronavirus and the human immune system will learn how to attack the coronavirus.
What are antibodies and T cells?
Conversations about coronavirus prevention have focused on antibodies, but they are only part of the human immune system.
Antibodies are small proteins in the immune system that stick to the outer surface of viruses. Neutralizing antibodies can inactivate the coronavirus. A neutralizing antibody is an antibody that protects cells by neutralizing any pathogens or harmful substances.
T cells are a type of white blood cell, these cells are important soldiers of the immune system. They find and destroy cells in the body that have been infected with the virus. Almost all effective vaccines trigger antibody and T cell reactions.
The level of T cells in the body reaches its peak in 14 days after vaccination while the level of antibodies reaches its peak after 28 days. The latest study, published in the medical journal Lancet, shows how long the vaccine can produce T cells and antibodies.
"We are very pleased with the results published today because we are receiving both neutralizing antibodies and T cells," said Professor Andrew Pollard of the Oxford Research Group.
"The real question now is how effective and safe this vaccine will be," he said. "Now we are waiting."
According to research so far, 90% of people who have been vaccinated have developed antibodies after being given a single dose.
Professor Pollard told the BBC: "We do not yet know what their safe levels are but we can increase the results by giving a second dose of the vaccine.
Source; BBC
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