Thursday, July 2, 2020

Sunday, June 28, 2020

Phase 3 Trial of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine starts in Brazil

Volunteers in Brazil have begun receiving a trial vaccine against COVID-19, in Latin America’s first phase 3 COVID-19 clinical trial.

The trial officially began on Saturday 20th June and will enrol 5,000 volunteers across the country. Vaccinations will take place in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and a site in the Northeast of Brazil.

Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Trial of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine in South Africa begins

Wits University is collaborating with the University of Oxford and the Oxford Vaccine Group on the South African trial. The South African Ox1Cov-19 Vaccine VIDA-Trial aims to find a vaccine that will prevent infection by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The technical name of the vaccine is ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, as it is made from a virus called ChAdOx1, which is a weakened and non-replicating version of a common cold virus (adenovirus). The vaccine has been engineered to express the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.

Sunday, May 31, 2020

SpaceX launches first crew to orbit

The two astronauts — veteran NASA fliers Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley — rode into space inside SpaceX’s new automated spacecraft called the Crew Dragon, a capsule designed to take people to and from the International Space Station.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/30/21269703/spacex-launch-crew-dragon-nasa-orbit-successful

Friday, May 22, 2020

The first human trial of a COVID-19 vaccine finds that it is safe, well-tolerated, and induces a rapid immune response

Researchers in China conducted a phase 1 trial of an Ad5 vectored COVID-19 vaccine. They used a vaccine that contains a part of the virus and checked if it's safe and if it helps the immune system. They gave different doses to 108 healthy adults. Most people had mild side effects like pain, fever, and fatigue, but nothing serious. The vaccine made their immune system respond well with antibodies and immune cells. This is good news for the fight against COVID-19.

Oxford COVID-19 vaccine to begin phase II/III human trials

University of Oxford researchers have begun recruiting for the next phase in human trials of a COVID-19 vaccine in human volunteers.

The new vaccine is being tested in different phases. First, in healthy adults, and now, they're going to study it in more people, including older adults and children. They want to see how well the vaccine works in these different age groups. In the last phase, they'll test it in a large group of adults to check if it prevents COVID-19 infections.

Thursday, April 30, 2020

AstraZeneca and Oxford University announce landmark agreement for COVID-19 vaccine

The collaboration aims to bring to patients the potential vaccine known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, being developed by the Jenner Institute and Oxford Vaccine Group, at the University of Oxford. Under the agreement, AstraZeneca would be responsible for development and worldwide manufacturing and distribution of the vaccine.