What Is Oxford-Astrazeneca Covid-19 Vaccine

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Name of the Vaccine

The vaccine, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (also called AZD1222),
Designed by Oxford and developed by AstraZeneca, the Anglo-Swedish pharma major.
How does the Oxford-AstroZeneca vaccine work?
‘Spike protein’, allow the virus to penetrate cells & thereafter, multiply.
The vaccine developed by Oxford and AstraZeneca, tries to build the body’s immunity against this spike protein.
The idea is to create antibodies to fight this spiked surface so that the virus does not even have the chance to penetrate the cells.

The vaccine uses a different virus — in this case, a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus) that infects chimpanzees — to carry just the code to make the spike protein, like a Trojan horse.
The adenovirus, genetically modified so that it cannot replicate in humans, will enter the cell and release the code to make only the spike protein.

The preliminary results from phase I/II trials of the vaccine, offered some promise by showing the vaccine was not only safe,
But also seemed to build an immune response in the participants.

For one, it was found that being injected with the vaccine led to participants building neutralising antibodies.
Another potential positive was that it increased the number of T cells — a type of white blood cell that protects the body from pathogens works to actively destroy infected cells.

The vaccine showed mild to moderate adverse reactions, including pain, feverish feelings, chills, muscle aches, headaches and malaise.
The effects were reduced using prophylactic paracetamol, according to the study.
Does it mean, vaccine will be ready in few months?
While the results seem promising, it is important to remember this data is from early-stage clinical trials.
This data cannot give clarity on questions like how long the antibodies will last in the body, an important factor in determining how effective the vaccine will be.
This will require data from larger, phase III trials.

Oxford and AstraZeneca have already begun phase III trials in Brazil, targeting 5,000 volunteers.
A similar trial in South Africa is also expected to be underway.

Serum Institute of India, which has tied up with Oxford and AstraZeneca, plans to make “millions of doses” of the vaccine over the next three months.
However, Serum will have to conduct phase III trials in India before the vaccine can be launched.