Experimental COVID-19 vaccine shows promise

Hundreds of participants developed an immune response during early trials of a coronavirus shot. British researchers from the University of Oxford started administering the vaccine to half of the test pool of 1,000 people in early April. They published a study in the medical journal Lancet on Monday indicating the vaccine prompted the production of neutralizing antibodies and a reaction in the body’s T-cells, which help destroy infected cells. The shot caused mild side effects.

How far along is this vaccine? Researchers are carrying out further trials with about 10,000 people in the United Kingdom, as well as some in South Africa and Brazil. They plan to start a 30,000-person study in the United States. Immunization of some high-risk groups in Britain could begin in December depending on COVID-19 transmission rates over the next few months, said Dr. Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute in Oxford.

Dig deeper: Read WORLD medical correspondent Dr. Charles Horton’s analysis of the U.S. government’s race to find a COVID-19 vaccine.