Possible coronavirus vaccine generates antibodies and is "safe"

The coronavirus vaccine being developed by the British university of Oxford appears to be "safe" and "trains" the immune system, according to the findings of the first phases of the study, released Monday.

During clinical trials conducted by experts from the prestigious academic centre, 1,077 volunteers showed that an injection led them to produce antibodies and white blood cells that can fight the virus.

These findings, reported in the medical journal "The Lancet", are considered "very promising", although there is still a need to carry out trials on a larger scale to determine whether the antibodies are sufficient to offer long-term protection against the disease.

The vaccine called ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, which is being developed at an unprecedented speed, is made from a genetically engineered virus that causes the common cold in chimpanzees.

Scientists have greatly modified it so that it cannot cause infections in people and so that it more closely resembles the coronavirus. They have done this by transferring the genetic instructions for the so-called "spike protein" of the coronavirus - the key tool it uses to invade human cells - to the vaccine they are developing. In this way, this vaccine looks like the coronavirus and the immune system can learn how to fight it.

Despite the relevance of these early findings, experts have warned that the study has not been operational long enough to understand whether it offers long-term immunity. As for side effects, the scientists determined that they exist but are not considered dangerous.

In their trials they found that 70% of the people who participated in the study developed a fever or headache even though those symptoms could be treated with paracetamol. "There is still much work to be done before we can confirm whether our vaccine will help control the COVID-19 pandemic, but these preliminary results are promising," Sarah Gilbert, of Oxford University, said today.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a Twitter message that these findings are "very positive news" and praised the "brilliant and pioneering scientists and researchers at Oxford University". "There are no guarantees, we are not there yet and more trials will be needed, but this is an important step in the right direction," the conservative leader said.

Much of the attention in the development of coronavirus antidotes to date has been on antibodies, which are only one part of the immune defense system. The vaccines that are considered effective induce both the antibody and the T-cell response, a type of white blood cell that helps coordinate the immune system and can detect which cells have been infected and destroy them.

The study showed that 90% of people developed neutralizing antibodies after being injected with one dose. Two doses were given to only ten people, all of whom produced more neutralizing antibodies. Andrew Pollard, from the research group, told the BBC today that while the results are "extremely promising", the "key" question now is "whether the vaccine works" as an antidote and, in this respect, we must wait.