The first test of the coronavirus vaccine in humans in Europe has begun at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. The vaccine, invented by the research team, was first given to the bodies of two volunteers on Thursday.
In this test, 800 people will be vaccinated. Half of them will be given this and the other half will be given the controlled meningitis vaccine.
According to a report by BBC Online, the Oxford test was designed in such a way that the volunteers would not know which vaccine they had received, but the doctors would know.
Elisa Granato, who took part in the Oxford experiment, said, “I’m a scientist. I wanted to be part of the scientific process as much as I could.”
The vaccine was developed in a three-month effort by Oxford University. Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at the Jenner Institute, led the pre-clinical research. She said, “Personally, I have a lot of confidence in this. Of course, we have to test it and take information from people. We need to show that it actually works. It remains to be seen whether people will be infected with the coronavirus before the widespread use of the vaccine.’’
Earlier, Professor Gilbert said she was 80 percent confident in it that it would work. Her expectations are now much higher.
A weaker version of the common cold virus (adenovirus) from chimpanzees has been used to make this vaccine. It has been transformed in such a way that it cannot grow in humans.
Researchers at Oxford have previously developed such things for Mars, another disease of coronavirus. The same process was followed in this case. Clinical trials showed promising results.
