Medicinal Marvels

Despite the many negative and unfortunate effects that coronavirus has wrought on the world, one of the most amazing and incredible things to have happened is the way that the world's scientists have worked together with an unbelievable level of dedication to develop a world-shaking vaccine with insane speed. There are multiple vaccines in development across the globe, in places including the UK, India, the US, China and many more. Lately, the news has been swamped with articles about vaccines in development, but we have finally got a solution to the problem that has been plaguing the world for over 6 months: the Oxford vaccine.

In the last few days, the University of Oxford, developers of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine, have completed the next stage of clinical trials and their drug has shown remarkable success. The trials that have just occurred included over 1000 people showed that the vaccine could, in fact, consistently generate an immune response, with 90% of subjects presenting antibodies that fight against COVID after only one dose. Only 10 people of 1077 required a second dose, but every single last person (in the end) developed antibodies.

This vaccine was developed from a version of the virus that infects chimpanzees with the common cold. The way in which the scientists at Oxford have managed this medical miracle is by genetically modifying this virus so that it does not pose a threat to the patients who receive it. It has also been changed to act and look more like coronavirus so that the immune system can get prepared for if you are infected with COVID-19 - this means that they have changed the antigens of the virus (the genetic markers which identify the virus) to make sure that the immune system recognises it as coronavirus. I have gone into more detail about the vaccine and virus mode of action in this blog.

How safe is it though?

This vaccine, like any other, will have side effects. This is because of the fact that vaccines are mostly dead or inactive forms of the virus in question, and this means that they can still cause some mild illness. In this case, the vaccine will cause fevers and headaches in around 70% of people, but these should be able to be treated at home with paracetamols or any other painkiller.

The vaccine, however, has been proven to be safe to humans in clinical trials, so it can be used without much fear.

How long is it going to be until it can be given to us?

Since the levels of infection of coronavirus are going down in the UK, the University of Oxford is spreading their trials across the globe. It will involve 30 000 people in the US and 2000 in South Africa, as well as many more countries too. This larger trial will show us how effective the vaccine really is since there is a larger population for the trial, which means they will receive more accurate results.

There have been calls by members of the public and scientific community for 'challenge trials' where the trial would purposely induce coronavirus and test the efficacy of the vaccine. This would only be necessary though if the levels of COVID are so low, that getting test patients is almost impossible. There are ethical concerns with this though - is it morally correct to infect people with coronavirus, where they may die, so that you can test a vaccine that may not even work? Despite these problems, the vaccine prospects are looking up - it is looking like this vaccine may just have arrived in time for a potential second wave. However, even if the vaccine works, widespread production and inoculation will happen, at the earliest, next year.

Whilst we wait for a vaccine, it is of utmost importance that we stay safe. From today, masks are compulsory in shops and public transport. I would highly suggest that you wear one when you go out in general, but that is up to you.

Lastly, thank you to everyone who has donated to my cause. I feel that my mission is a really important thing that needs to happen - too long has gone by without the emergency services getting much, or any, recognition. I have almost reached the halfway mark, only a few days in! If you haven't seen the page, here is my GoFundMe.

Thank you for reading this, if you enjoyed, please leave a like and a comment, and please do share with your friends.

See you next week.