A leading scientist involved in the University of Oxford's potential Covid-19 vaccine believes the team has seen the right sort of immune response in trials. Speaking at a parliamentary hearing, professor of vaccinology at the university, Sarah Gilbert said 8,000 volunteers had been enrolled for the Phase III of its trial into the vaccine AZD1222.
Gilbert said, “We're very happy that we're seeing the right sort of immune response that will give protection, and not the wrong sort.” The project has launched Phase III of the human trials to analyse how the vaccine works in a large number of people over the age of 18, and how well it works to prevent people from becoming infected with Covid-19.
She said she hoped her vaccine would make progress earlier, but refrained from being more specific about the timeline for when it would be ready, saying it depends on the results of the trial. Chair of the UK Government Vaccine Taskforce, Kate Bingham said that excluding the Oxford vaccine program, she hoped there would be a breakthrough by early 2021. Meanwhile, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University, John Bell said that Britain should prepare for not having a Covid-19 vaccine for the winter and encourage people to get their flu vaccinations to avoid “pandemonium” in hospitals.
