Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic started, scientists all around the world have been trying to come up with a vaccine that needs to be not only effective but also easily accessible to people around the globe. It has been more than six months now since the pandemic hit the world. More than 500,000 people have lost their lives until now and no cure has yet been discovered. A ray of hope has however now emerged after months of scientific research. A vaccine discovered by the University of Oxford has passed the initial stages of clinical trial and is triggering an immune response in people.
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What do we know about the oxford vaccine so far?
The vaccine discovered by the University of Oxford has been successful in creating an immune response in 1077 people according to a report by BBC news. These people were a part of a clinical trial and developed antibodies and T-cells once they were injected with the vaccine.
The vaccine is called ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 and is made by the strands of a virus which produces the common cold in chimpanzees. For the sake of vaccine, the virus was genetically engineered to resemble closely the coronavirus strands. The virus has also been weakened enough so that it does not cause infections in humans.
The discovery of this vaccine is a very positive step towards the eradication of the coronavirus but the finish line is still very far. The vaccine will have to go numerous other phases of the trial to qualify for widespread use. The United Kingdom has already ordered a million doses of the vaccine.
How the oxford vaccine for coronavirus work?
So far the focus of treatments regarding the coronavirus has been on antibodies but these antibodies are not the only factors that govern the immune response generated by the human body against coronavirus. T-cells also play an important role, as they are the ones that identify the damaged cells in the body and then destroy them. T-cells actually work as neutralizers and thus do not let the body’s immune response to go into overdrive.
For the oxford vaccine for coronavirus, the T-cell response reached a maximum in 14 days while the antibody response reached a maximum in 28 days. These results showed up in 90% of the participants after just one dose while the rest of the 10% developed antibodies after two doses. None of the participants remained without an immune response.
The vaccine has not been tested enough to declare it an absolute success but there are good chances that it is going to become one. The researchers who have been working on this vaccine are very happy with the results and are hopeful.
Even though the discovery is a positive thing, there is still a long way to go. If you or a loved one are suffering from COVID-19 like symptoms, you can book a COVID test in Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad via oladoc.com. You can also call our helpline at 042-38900939.
