Oxford coronavirus vaccine ‘works perfectly’ and builds strong immunity to virus, researchers find despite fears that it would only lessen the severity of infection
- Oxford University’s vaccine delivers the instructions for the Covid protein
- This primes the person’s immune system to recognise the virus and fight it off
- While the world waits for the results of trials on whether the Oxford vaccine works, the findings are the next step forward
The virus vaccine developed at Oxford University works perfectly, a study shows.
Great hopes rest on the jab which is a global frontrunner and has been shown to safely trigger an immune response in volunteers given it during early trials.
Now researchers at the University of Bristol have found the vaccine delivers the instructions for the Covid protein, which cells copy thousands of times to produce it in large amounts.
The virus vaccine developed at Oxford University works perfectly, a study shows (file photo)
This means a person’s immune system is then primed to recognise the virus and fight it off without them falling ill.
Dr David Matthews, from Bristol’s school of cellular and molecular medicine, who led the study, said: ‘Until now, the technology hasn’t been able to provide answers with such clarity, but we now know the vaccine is doing everything we expected and that is only good news in our fight against the illness.’
While the world waits for the results of trials on whether the Oxford vaccine works, the findings are the next step forward.
Scientists found instructions from the vaccine were copied accurately by cells, making the protein correctly.
Sarah Gilbert, who leads the Oxford University vaccine trial, said: ‘The study confirms that large amounts of the coronavirus spike protein are produced with great accuracy and this goes a long way to explaining the success of the vaccine in inducing a strong immune response.’
Scientists found instructions from the vaccine were copied accurately by cells, making the protein correctly (file photo)