Alternative Africa

Top Menu

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact Us

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business
  • Environment
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Reports
    • Africa-Observers
      • Read Reports
      • Submit a story
  • MORE
    • Health
    • News Now
    • World
    • Technology
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact Us

logo

Alternative Africa

  • Home
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business
  • Environment
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Reports
    • Africa-Observers
      • Read Reports
      • Submit a story
  • MORE
    • Health
    • News Now
    • World
    • Technology
  • Divorce: Court orders husband to pay ex-wife £5,500 for five years as fee for housework

  • 5 Africa-born designers open digital Milan Fashion Week

  • South Africa to spend $712 million on national vaccination drive

  • Moderna developing vaccine booster for new coronavirus variants

  • Ghana takes delivery 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine from COVAX

HealthNews NowWorld
Home›Health›Oxford team to inject virus into healthy volunteers in last trial for Covid-19 vaccine

Oxford team to inject virus into healthy volunteers in last trial for Covid-19 vaccine

By alternativeafrica
July 17, 2020
978
0
Share:

London, July 17, 2020 (AltAfrica)-Hopes for a successful covid-19 vaccine have been raised after University of Oxford researches signalled a potential breakthrough while testing their prototype. The news comes on the heels of similarly strong results from a study in the United States. 

Microbiologist Elisa Granato, 32, was one of the first people to take part in the human trials (Picture: BBC/PA) Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/23/first-two-volunteers-injected-oxfords-coronavirus-vaccine

Human trials carried out by Oxford researchers reportedly showed their vaccine prototype had successfully generated an immune response against the virus.

But in a last push for breakthrough, the team hope to begin tests on volunteers who will be intentionally exposed (injected) to the virus in a “challenge trial”, a move seen as controversialsince there is no proven cure for the illness.

READ ALSO: MANDELA’S DAUGHTER,ZINDZI WAS CORONAVIRUS POSITIVE BEFORE DEATH-SON

Although challenge trials, in which healthy volunteers are given a pathogen, are routine in vaccine development, taking the approach for Covid-19, where there is no failsafe treatment if a volunteer becomes severely ill, has been questioned.

In human challenge trials volunteers are intentionally exposed in a controlled laboratory setting, meaning the trial can be completed in weeks and requires far fewer people.

Screen grab taken from video issued by Britain’s Oxford University, showing a person being injected as part of the first human trials in the UK to test a potential ccovid-19oronavirus vaccine, untaken by Oxford University in England, Thursday April 23, 2020. Two volunteers have received the first vaccine trial against the COVID-19 Coronavirus on Thursday. (Oxford University Pool via AP)

The Oxford vaccine has already been tested in a phase-one trial involving about 1,000 British volunteers, with full details due to be published in the Lancet on Monday. Tens of thousands of people are also being recruited in the UK, Brazil, South Africa and the US for a further stage of testing, known as phase three.

Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper said blood samples taken from some 1,000 volunteers in phase 1 trials showed the vaccine had stimulated encouraging levels of antibodies and T-cells. No serious side effects were reported.

Oxford’s Covid-19 vaccine, devised by Sarah Gilbert, is months ahead of the competition https://t.co/ZK9xGJvMnj

— Businessweek (@BW) July 15, 2020

A senior team member has said that preparations have begun for the human challenge trial to run in parallel with phase three, which would require only tens of volunteers to test the efficacy of the vaccine.

Prof Adrian Hill, director of Oxford University’s Jenner Institute, said that Oxford scientists were working in the laboratory on the technical side of preparation for such a trial and that the team hoped to recruit volunteers within months.

“We’re hoping to be doing challenge trials by the end of the year,” he said. “This might be in parallel or might be after the phase three trial is completed. They’re not competing options, they’re complementary.”

Prof Adrian Hill says the challenge trial will be complementary with a coronavirus trial which has recruited participants in Brazil and South Africa

Prof Adrian Hill says the challenge trial will be complementary with a coronavirus trial which has recruited participants in Brazil and South Africa. Photograph: Eddie Keogh/Reuters

A growing number of scientists, including members of the Oxford team, argue that the human challenge trial approach is justified given that the risk would be very low for healthy people in their 20s, and since it would be set against the global impact of the pandemic and emergence of treatments such as Remdesivir.

One recent analysis put the risk of death from Covid-19 for someone in their 20s at around one in 3,000, similar to the risk for live kidney donation.

“Everybody would agree that the risk is extremely low in young people,” said Hill. “It’s so low that it’s very difficult to measure.”

The development comes amid speculation that the publication of the Oxford team’s phase one trial results on Monday will reveal “positive news”. The results are expected to show that there are no serious side-effects from this vaccine and that subjects show a response in each aspect of the immune system, the antibodies and T-cells.

This conclusion would be in line with the results of animal studies released so far, but even if a robust immune response were confirmed, it would not be a guarantee that the vaccine protected against infection. Instead such protection could be established in the phase three trial. This phase has recruited 10,000 trial participants in the UK, about 5,000 in Brazil and 2,000 in South Africa, with a second trial in the US aiming to recruit as many as 30,000 participants.

“We now know the Oxford vaccine covers both bases – it produces both a T-cell and an antibody response,” an unnamed source told the Telegraph. A separate source said this meant the vaccine could offer “double protection” against the virus.

While the researchers have yet to prove the immune response is enough to offer long-lasting protection against infection, the results are much more encouraging than dozens of similar Covid-19 trials.

In a public statement, the Oxford team said the results of the trial were expected to be published next week in The Lancet medical journal.

A leader contender among almost 100 prototypes currently in development, the vaccine is being supported by the British government and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.

US trial enters ‘final stages’

News of the Oxford trial results come after US biotech company Moderna said its Covid-19 vaccine was ready to enter the final stage of human trials.

Strong early results published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed the vaccine induced an immune responses in all of the volunteers who received it in a phase 1 study. 

The company said it would enter final human trials on 27 July, to test how well the vaccine protects people in the real world.

Some 30,000 participants are to be recruited in the US, half of whom will receive a placebo, and the other half of whom will receive a 100 microgram dose of the vaccine.

So far, the coronavirus has infected more than 13.5 million people and killed 580,000 people worldwide

SHARE ON:
TagsCoronavirus TreatmentCovid-19 vaccine BreakthroughOxford Trials
Previous Article

USAID launches $19.2m project to support 76,000 ...

Next Article

Kenyan university begins mass production of ventilators, ...

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

alternativeafrica

Related articles More from author

  • AfricaBusinessHealthNews Now

    Coronavirus breakthrough drug, dexamethasone is manufactured in South Africa for $10

    June 19, 2020
    By alternativeafrica
  • AfricaHealthNews Now

    South Africa begins clinical trial for TB vaccine for coronavirus treatment

    April 26, 2020
    By alternativeafrica
  • AfricaHealthNews Now

    African country, Madagascar launches COVID ORGANICS, a “herbal cure” for coronavirus

    April 21, 2020
    By alternativeafrica
  • AfricaHealthNews Now

    Nigeria: CBN willing to bankroll Nigerian scientists to develop local coronavirus vaccine-Emefiele

    May 13, 2020
    By alternativeafrica
  • AfricaHealthNews Now

    Coronavirus pandemic grounds African leaders, elites who once sought medical treatment abroad

    April 5, 2020
    By alternativeafrica
  • AfricaHealthNews Now

    South Africa rolls out Africa’s first COVID-19 vaccine trial

    June 23, 2020
    By alternativeafrica

Leave a reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

You might be interested

  • AfricaArts & CultureBusinessNews Now

    Nigeria to host first Berlin/Lagos Archival Film Festival

  • HealthNews NowWorld

    UK begins trial of artificial antibodies, monoclonal as new treatment for coronavirus

  • BusinessNews Now

    We’ll Bring Back the Good Old Days of Textile Industry-Buhari

Timeline

  • February 25, 2021

    Divorce: Court orders husband to pay ex-wife £5,500 for five years as fee for housework

  • February 25, 2021

    5 Africa-born designers open digital Milan Fashion Week

  • February 25, 2021

    South Africa to spend $712 million on national vaccination drive

  • February 25, 2021

    Moderna developing vaccine booster for new coronavirus variants

  • February 24, 2021

    Ghana takes delivery 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine from COVAX

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • Lagos govt confirms first case of deadly coronavirus infection in Nigeria

    By alternativeafrica
    February 28, 2020
  • Keynote Address of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at 2018 Oxford Africa Conference

    By PSJ Africa
    May 14, 2018
  • Morocco begins regional integration by connecting Casablanca Airport with High Speed Train

    By alternativeafrica
    January 4, 2020
  • Kenyan govt pressure Facebook for data on Kenyan users

    By alternativeafrica
    November 20, 2019
  • Nigeria: 32,000 capacity Lagos rice mill to start production in 2020

    By alternativeafrica
    December 23, 2019
  • Ado zagi
    on
    January 12, 2021

    Nigeria: EFCC Academy to begin award of degree

    Diploma leave areply from
  • Ethiopia joins Africa's Artificial Intelligence revolution | Alternative Africa
    on
    October 2, 2020

    Spending on Artificial Intelligence Systems in Africa, Middle East to top $374 million in 2020

    […] Many African countries ...
  • The 5 most popular Africans 2020
    on
    September 25, 2020

    Celebrating Congolese doctor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the man behind breakthrough of Ebola cure

    […] Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe ...
  • Millitants in Central Mali Set Jail Ablaze in Attack Killing Two | taktik(z) GDI (Government Defense ...
    on
    August 11, 2020

    Fifteen gendarmes killed in another attack on Mali camp

    […] attack fol­lowed a January ...
  • Millitants in Central Mali Set Jail Ablaze in Attack Killing Two
    on
    August 11, 2020

    Fifteen gendarmes killed in another attack on Mali camp

    […] attack followed a ...
AlternativeAfrica.com is an independent Pan African News Website dedicated primarily to influencing the negative narratives about Africa. We hope to do this by focusing and showcasing the many developmental strides sweeping across the continent.

Read more >>>

Contact Info

  • info@alternativeafrica.com
  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • Divorce: Court orders husband to pay ex-wife £5,500 for five years as fee for housework

    By alternativeafrica
    February 25, 2021
  • 5 Africa-born designers open digital Milan Fashion Week

    By alternativeafrica
    February 25, 2021
  • South Africa to spend $712 million on national vaccination drive

    By alternativeafrica
    February 25, 2021
  • Moderna developing vaccine booster for new coronavirus variants

    By alternativeafrica
    February 25, 2021
  • Lagos govt confirms first case of deadly coronavirus infection in Nigeria

    By alternativeafrica
    February 28, 2020
  • Keynote Address of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at 2018 Oxford Africa Conference

    By PSJ Africa
    May 14, 2018
  • Macron in Ivory Coast to launch anti-terrorism academy

    By alternativeafrica
    December 21, 2019
  • Kenyan govt pressure Facebook for data on Kenyan users

    By alternativeafrica
    November 20, 2019
  • Ado zagi
    on
    January 12, 2021

    Nigeria: EFCC Academy to begin award of degree

    Diploma leave areply from
  • Ethiopia joins Africa's Artificial Intelligence revolution | Alternative Africa
    on
    October 2, 2020

    Spending on Artificial Intelligence Systems in Africa, Middle East to top $374 million in 2020

    […] Many African countries ...
  • The 5 most popular Africans 2020
    on
    September 25, 2020

    Celebrating Congolese doctor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the man behind breakthrough of Ebola cure

    […] Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe ...
  • Millitants in Central Mali Set Jail Ablaze in Attack Killing Two | taktik(z) GDI (Government Defense ...
    on
    August 11, 2020

    Fifteen gendarmes killed in another attack on Mali camp

    […] attack fol­lowed a January ...

Photostream

    Follow us

    • Home
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
    © Copyright Alternative Africa 2019. All rights reserved.