The COVID-19 vaccine developed by researchers at Oxford University in the United Kingdom, has been confirmed to be safe and effective. Medical Journal The Lancet has finally published the results of the human trial of the experimental vaccine which was conducted on 1,077 people. Half of them were given the vaccine. The article said that the vaccine strengthens the body’s immunity against the vaccine. Let me tell you about it. 

The vaccine has been made from a weakened version of a common cold virus. This virus causes infection in chimpanzees and has been genetically modified to not infect humans. The vaccine contains a gene that helps the body fight the coronavirus. According to the results that were published, the vaccine which has been named ‘ChAdOx1 nCoV-19’ was able to produce Antibodies and T-cells. Antibodies are produced by the blood to kill viruses that cause diseases. T-cells are part of the immune system and they attack and kill any infections that enter the body. 

When the vaccine was injected into the patients, 14 days later the number of T-cells started increasing in the patient’s body and 28 days later antibodies started increasing in their bodies. 10 people were given double doses of the vaccine and because of this their immunity became even more strong. The Oxford vaccine has been proven to be safe. During the trial, the vaccine did not cause severe reactions but 70% of the people did get little fever and headache which were managed with paracetamol. Even though the results are promising, the vaccine is still not ready for use. The vaccine has to complete Phase 3 of testing in which more than 10,000 people all over the UK and other countries will be tested. Data from this phase will confirm how effective and safe the vaccine is. It may be ready by September or October.

Tags

• COVID19
• Lockdown
• Vaccine
• Oxford

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