Anupreet Singh :
The UK govt has announced on Tuesday, that potential COVID-19 vaccine has been developed by researchers at the University of Oxford and the human trial will begin from Thursday. The vaccine combines a weakened version of a common cold virus with genes coding for the coronavirus’ lethal weapons: its spikes.
The vaccine will be administered to people starting on Thursday (April 23), British Health Minister Matt Hancock announced today (April 22), according to CNBC. The study will recruit up to 510 healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 55 across multiple locations in the U.K., according to a statement.
Half the volunteers will be given the vaccine and the other half will be given a “control” vaccine which protects against meningitis and sepsis, according to the statement. The trial will last around 6 months, with an optional visit one year after vaccination.
The secretary added that the government allocated GBP 44.5 million (roughly Rs. 420 crores) to both universities to fund scientists” clinical trials, which were “making rapid progress.” In addition, the authorities will finance manufacturing capability “so that if either of these vaccines safely works, we can make it available for the British people as soon as humanely possible.”
As of Tuesday, the UK Department of Health and Social Care has confirmed 129,044 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the outbreak. In total, 17,337 deaths have been reported.