Coronavirus Pandemic: Oxford University Researchers Begin Enrolling Volunteers For Covid-19 Vaccine Trial

Researchers and Scientists from the University of Oxford have begun the clinical trials for what could emerge to be the first vaccine effective against the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, reports Economic Times.

The trial is being conducted as a collaborative effort between the University's Jenner Institute and Oxford Vaccine group clinical teams as part of a “rapid vaccine response” to the coronavirus pandemic.

They are in the pursuit of recruiting up to 510 volunteers who will be subjected to either the developed vaccine or a control injection for comparison of the results and effectiveness.

The researchers have begun the screening of healthy volunteers in the age group of 18-55 years from last Friday (27 March). The ones who pass the screening shall become the first humans to test the new vaccine called ChAdOx1 nCoV-19.

The trials will provide unprecedented and valuable details on the effectiveness of the vaccine and its ability to generate an immunity-driven response against the virus.

The vaccine is presently being manufactured at the Clinical Biomanufacturing Facility at the Oxford University to the clinical grade to then be ready for use in trials.

“The Oxford team had exceptional experience of a rapid vaccine response, such as to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014. This is an even greater challenge,” said Professor Adrian Hill, Director of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford.