Nina & Nana are back after a brief hiatus due to social distancing, after the blockbuster news of a very promising corona virus vaccine in advanced developmental stages by a team led by Oxford scientists and AstraZeneca.
The vaccine called ChAdOx1 nCOV-19 is made from a genetically engineered virus that causes common cold in chimpanzees. It has been modified by transferring the genetic instructions for coronavirus protein that the virus uses to invade our cells.
The trial results found that the vaccine generated two “strong” immune responses: the production of both antibodies and T cells. The immune system makes antibodies in response to a virus so it can recognize it and fight it off a second time. T cells spot the infected cells and coordinate the body’s immune response by searching for the infected cells, attacking and killing them.
Minor side effects of the vaccine such as fever have been noted which is thought to have been managed/remedied by paracetamol.
The pharmaceutical partner, AstraZeneca is involved in the production of potentially millions or billions of doses of the vaccine, once the final stages of the clinical trials are completed. But the timeline of the availability of this vaccine for the general public is unclear although medical workers might be provided with an early version.
This post is a part of the #NinaAndNana series I co-host with Kanika G.
Sources/News links:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31604-4/fulltext
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-vaccine-oxford-university-trial-results-encouraging/
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