The World Health Organization (WHO) has welcomed the study results on a British coronavirus vaccine as “good news”. At a media briefing in Geneva yesterday, WHO emergency coordinator Mike Ryan congratulated the researchers in Oxford and the colleagues from the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, who had delivered the results.
The fact that the vaccine had been successfully tested and did not cause any serious side effects in the subjects was „a positive result“. „Still, there is a long way to go,“ Ryan said. Now more studies would have to follow on a larger scale.
Experts previously reported in The Lancet that the British vaccine, according to a study, appears to be safe and boosts the immune system. The agent works in two ways: It promotes the formation of specific antibodies as well as T cells – both are important for the immune system. The first results of the phase 1/2 study had already been announced last week. The trials with 1,077 healthy people were classified as promising.
Vaccine race
Internationally, there is a race of scientists and pharmaceutical companies for a coronavirus vaccine. The Oxford drug is one of the most promising candidates. According to the WHO, more than 20 vaccines are currently being tested in human clinical trials.
