Oxford university starts human trials for Covid-19

The UK government on Tuesday announced that the human trial of a potential COVID-19 ‘ChAdOx1’  vaccine being developed by researchers at Oxford University is set to begin from Thursday.  ChAdOx1 – known as recombinant viral vector vaccine –  is an adenovirus vaccine vector and was developed at Oxford’s Jenner Institute. 

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock told press reporters that his government will provide 20 million pounds to the Oxford research team to help fund their clinical trials, with a further 22.5 million pounds for researchers at Imperial College London. “The team have accelerated that trials process, working with the regulator the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency), who have been brilliant. As a result, I can announce that the vaccine from the Oxford project will be trialled in people from this Thursday,” Hancock stated.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) also pitched for the Oxford vaccine on Sunday, saying that this superfast vaccine is the frontrunner in the race to take on the deadly COVID-19 virus.