Coronavirus April 27, 2020

In The Race For A Vaccine, Scientists At Oxford Take The Lead

OXFORD, ENGLAND - APRIL 03: A deserted view of All Souls College after university students have been sent home and the tourist are staying away Oxford's streets and colleges of learning are deserted during the Coronavirus lockdown on April 03, 2020 in Oxford, United Kingdom. Even though the streets and college greens are empty scientists are working hard behind the dormant dreaming spires. Researchers and scientists at Oxford University are at the forefront of the war against Covid-19. More than 20 departments from medicine to humanities are working on vaccine research and mapping. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has spread to many countries across the world, claiming over 50,000 lives and infecting over 1 million people. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

It is a worldwide race to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. Researchers at the Jenner Institute at Oxford University in England have the lead, but they had a head start. They developed a vaccination for a previous strain of coronavirus that was harmless to humans. The New York Times writes:

“That has enabled them to leap ahead and schedule tests of their new coronavirus vaccine involving more than 6,000 people by the end of next month, hoping to show not only that it is safe, but also that it works.

“The Oxford scientists now say that with an emergency approval from regulators, the first few million doses of their vaccine could be available by September — at least several months ahead of any of the other announced efforts — if it proves to be effective.“

The race for a vaccine: Scientists inoculated six rhesus macaque monkeys with single doses of a vaccine. The animals were then exposed to heavy quantities of the virus that is causing the pandemic. More than 28 days later all six were healthy. https://t.co/UMI72wZl9K
— Michael Slackman (@meslackman) April 27, 2020

The reason for optimism comes from the result of tests conducted on six rhesus macaque monkeys that were inoculated with the Oxford vaccine. The monkeys were then exposed to large doses of the virus, doses that had sickened other monkeys in the lab. But almost a month later, the six which were treated with the vaccine were all healthy.

“The rhesus macaque is pretty much the closest thing we have to humans,” Dr. (Vincent) Munster said, noting that scientists were still analyzing the result.”

But immunity for monkeys is no guarantee that humans will fare as well. The best case scenario here is, if it works on humans, emergency approval could mean the vaccine could be available by September.