Oxford's coronavirus vaccine finds success in small monkeys

The scientists at Oxford University's Jenner Institute, who are developing a vaccine for the novel coronavirus have found some success. In a major breakthrough, the first results of the animal trial showed that the "ChAdOx1 nCoV-19" vaccine is protective in a small study of six monkeys. The promising finding has led to the start of human trials late last month. As of May 13, over 1000 volunteers have already participated in human trials of this vaccine. Experts have lauded the results and noted that even though the human clinical trials are already in progress, the results of this study is good news.

According to reports, monkeys were given a single shot of vaccine developed antibodies against COVID-19 within 14 days. However, all monkeys developed protective antibodies against the infection within 28 days before being exposed to a high dose of virus. The vaccine appeared to prevent lung damage and stopped the virus from making copies of itself. Stephen Evans, Professor of Pharmacoepidemiology at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said that this development is "good news". “It is one of the hurdles to be passed by the Oxford vaccine and it has cleared it well," Evans was quoted as saying. Globally, there are over 100 experimental vaccines under development to fight COVID-19 that has created havoc across the globe.