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The clinical trials of this vaccine are in phase 3, the last before knowing exactly if it is safe and if it can protect the population from the disease, after which it will need approval from regulators before proceeding with mass vaccination. .
The Covid vaccine developed by the University of Oxford, in collaboration with the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, generates a strong immune response among the elderly, the most vulnerable group, the 'Financial Times' reveals this Monday.
The clinical trials of this vaccine are in phase 3, the last before knowing exactly if it is safe and if it can protect the population from the disease, after which it will need approval from regulators before proceeding with mass vaccination. .
As the newspaper learned from two people familiar with these studies, the vaccine generates antibodies and so-called T cells among the elderly (whose main purpose is to identify and kill invading pathogens or infected cells).
Age is the main risk factor for covid-19 since the immune system weakens over time, so this group is the one that will need protection against the coronavirus the most.
Researchers, according to the Financial, are encouraged by the immune response generated by the vaccine among older people.
The results of the first clinical tests of the Oxford vaccine, published last July, already indicated that it generates antibodies and T cells.
Details of the latest findings are expected to be published soon in a medical journal, the newspaper adds.
"If they have data that shows that the vaccine generates good immunity, measured in the laboratory, in the over 55 age group, and that includes a good response in people who are much older, I think that is a promising sign," he said. Jonathan Ball, professor of virology at the English University of Nottingham, told the newspaper.
In August, the European Union (EU) closed a first contract with AstraZeneca that guarantees access to 300 million doses, an agreement that was signed on behalf of the Member States and the doses will be distributed based on the population of each country.
In addition to the EU contract with AstraZeneca, the governments of Argentina and Mexico, as well as the Mexican Slim foundation, reached an agreement with the pharmaceutical company and Oxford to manufacture the vaccine for their countries and then distribute it to the rest of Latin America, except Brazil.
In addition to the United Kingdom, clinical trials have been carried out in the United States, Brazil and South Africa.
The trials have not been without problems. In September, testing resumed after being briefly interrupted due to an adverse reaction suffered by a volunteer.
Furthermore, a volunteer recently died in Brazil, a case about which no further details were given, but according to the media, this person would have received a placebo and not the vaccine.
