The vaccine will give an initial assessment of the effectiveness of the shot by testing on 500 volunteers and focus will be on safety & tolerability.
London| At the historic University of Oxford, the first patients have been enrolled in human trials for a coronavirus vaccine after the United Kingdom’s Health Secretary said the country would be “throwing everything” behind the project.
The clinical trial will test the effects of potential COVID-19 treatments and the start the process of vaccine assessment in the university’s first human studies.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Wednesday that the government funded the trial project with 20 million pounds to Oxford University and another 22 million pounds to a second vaccine project at Imperial College, London.
He added the project will help support phase 2 trials and help prepare for a larger phase 3 study.
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Health Secretary said a vaccine is the “best way” to destroy the virus and the bring the number of cases down in the nation.
NEWS: The first human trials for vaccines begin in the UK on Thursday. We’re giving the 2 leading UK vaccine teams at Oxford & Imperial all the support they need to make it happen pic.twitter.com/VGVwqyNpJ2
— Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) April 21, 2020
The Oxford Univesity trials currently involve healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 55, but those demographic could be expanded if the trials prove successful.
The clinical came as the death toll from COVID-19 in the UK crossed the 18,000-mark. The global toll had already crossed 184,000.
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