Wuhan-made Chinese Covid vaccine found 'safe', after Oxford vaccine's positive results

A day after the COVID-19 vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford was confirmed as showing positive results, according to trial results published in The Lancet medical journal, a vaccine which is made in China has been found safe as well. A phase 2 trial of a Coronavirus vaccine candidate in China's Wuhan has found that the vaccine is safe and induces an immune response, according to a new study published in The Lancet.

The study says that this is the first randomised controlled trial for assessment of the immunogenicity and safety of a candidate non-replicating adenovirus type-5 (Ad5)-vectored COVID-19 vaccine, aiming to determine an appropriate dose of the candidate vaccine for an efficacy study.

No serious adverse reactions were documented

The primary objectives were to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of the Ad5-vectored COVID-19 vaccine and to determine a vaccine dose for a phase 3 efficacy study. According to the study, of the 508 participants, 253 received a high dose of the vaccine, 129 received a low dose and 126 received a placebo. The trial found that 95% (241/253) of participants in the high dose group and 91% (118/129) of the recipients in the low dose group showed either T cell or antibody immune responses on day 28 post-vaccination. No serious adverse reactions were documented.

So far, more than 150 vaccines are being developed and tested around the world to stop the Covid-19 pandemic, with 23 in human clinical trials, according to the World Health Organization.

'We need to learn more about the virus'

According to the trial results of Oxford vaccine, doses of the vaccine were given to 1,077 healthy adults aged between 18 and 55 in five UK hospitals in April and May as part of the phase one clinical trial and result. The results show they induced strong antibody and T-cell immune responses for up to 56 days after they were given. T-cells are crucial for maintaining protection against the virus for years.

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The findings are seen as promising, but experts feel it is too soon to know if this is enough to offer protection as larger trials get underway. "There is still much work to be done before we can confirm if our vaccine will help manage the Covid-19 pandemic, but these early results hold promise, said Professor Sarah Gilbert, co-author of the study.

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"As well as continuing to test our vaccine in phase 3 trials, we need to learn more about the virus, for example, we still do not know how strong an immune response we need to provoke to effectively protect against SARS-CoV-2 infection. If our vaccine is effective, it is a promising option as these types of vaccine can be manufactured at large scale," she said.

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Since emerging in the central Chinese city of Wuhan last year, the virus has killed over 606,000 people and infected more than 14,538,000 people worldwide. In India, the virus has caused 28,084 deaths and infected over 11 lakh people, according to latest official figures.

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