The brilliant minds of the scientist community are in a race against time to find a cure for coronavirus. Currently, according to WHO, 110 potential coronavirus vaccine candidates are listed on their website. However, out of these 110, only seven have made it to the stage of human trials. One of them is the vaccine being developed at Oxford University.
In April, Oxford had announced that it will partner with a UK based pharmaceutical company named AstraZeneca for further developments and distribution of the coronavirus vaccine. Furthermore, the Phase-I trials of the vaccine began in April, earlier this year. Oxford University had also said that for the coronavirus vaccine candidate named AZD1222, the Phase-II and Phase-III human trials with 1000 volunteers will start in May. However, the results for the first phase of human trials are still awaited.
According to Oxford University scientists, a significant immune response was seen in volunteers against the coronavirus. Furthermore, the scientists claim that they’ve found a jab which triggers a response to double the immunity defence against the deadly virus.
According to the AstraZeneca CEO, Pascal Soriot, the vaccine can protect the body for a year against coronavirus. Furthermore, he claims that AstraZeneca aims to deliver two billion doses of the drug by the end of the year.
Earlier, AstraZeneca had partnered with Europe’s Inclusive Vaccines Alliance, headed by Germany, the Netherlands, France and Italy to supply 400 million doses of the Oxford University vaccine by the end of 2020. The company had also partnered with the UK, the US, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and Gavi Alliance to supply 700 million doses of the vaccine. Furthermore, to supply another one billion doses to low income countries, AstraZeneca has partnered with The Serum institute of India to manufacture and distribute the coronavirus vaccine.
Oxford University is definitely leading the race when it comes to the coronavirus vaccine trials. With Oxford University’s vaccine candidate showing such promising initial results, only time will tell whether our dreams of defeating the pandemic will turn into reality or not.