Britain Launches First Human Trial of Coronavirus Vaccine

As the world struggles to get a grip on the coronavirus pandemic, a team of scientists from Oxford University have launched the first human trial in Europe of a coronavirus vaccine that experts are 80% sure will work.

Two volunteers have been injected; a larger trial of about 5,000 volunteers is set to start in the coming months.

The Oxford team developed the vaccine in less than three months, using the same technology they had previously used for treating Mers and Ebola.

The team said in a statement: “Our brilliant team has been working tirelessly to get to this point using our skills and experience in vaccine development and testing, and will do the best job possible in moving quickly whilst at all times prioritizing the safety of the trial participants.”

“Scientists there hope to have one million doses ready by September, and to dramatically scale up manufacturing after that, should the vaccine prove effective”, BBC reports.

Professor of Vaccinology at Oxford University, Sarah Gilbert, led the pre-trial research and said she was largely confident the vaccine would prove effective.

The Oxford team said on Thursday that the principal aim of initial tests is "to find out if this vaccine is going to work against COVID-19, if it won’t cause unacceptable side effects and if it induces good immune responses".

UK government Health Secretary Matt Hancock pledged £20 million worth of aid to support Oxford University’s coronavirus vaccine program; “We will throw everything we’ve got at developing a vaccine”, he added. 

Britain is now the largest contributor to the worldwide effort to develop a coronavirus vaccine, having committed over £210 million to an international fund. The UK government also expressed its readiness to fund the manufacture of millions of doses in advance, should trials prove successful. In this manner, the vaccine could become immediately available to the public.

By Elene Dzebisashvili