Oxford, AstraZeneca's COVID-19 Vaccine Found Safe for Older Adults

Early trial results of Oxford's COVID-19 vaccine have shown that it produces an immune response against the virus and is safe for older adults.

Oxford's COVID-19 vaccine results are different from the two leading vaccine developers.

While Pfizer's vaccine gives 95 percent protection, Moderna's early-stage results of its vaccine have shown 94.5 percent effectiveness against COVID-19.

Despite the promising results from the two leading vaccine developers, Oxford's COVID-19 vaccine early-stage result in its Phase 3 human clinical trial is different.

The University of Oxford and AstraZeneca's vaccine included demographics in their study.

According to their published study in The Lancet, their vaccine produces an immune response against the virus and is safe for older adults. Additionally, older adults who participated in the vaccine trial were less likely to have side effects of the vaccine.

Business Insider reported that data from 560 participants of the study suggested that the vaccine was well tolerated across all ages and had similar effects on both young and older adults.

This is a great development because among the many developers that released the results of their Stage 3 human clinical trial, only Oxford revealed the demographics of its participants.

Experts have long been asking Pfizer and Moderna the demographics of their participants but there are no reports about it until now. The longevity of the vaccines' immunity are also up for debate.

Vaccine might come before Christmas

Another good news about Oxford's vaccine is that none of the participants in the last stage trial had reported any serious adverse reactions.

Meanwhile, researchers from the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca admitted that the vaccine's effectivity in protecting people against COVID-19 is still not 100% guaranteed.

Andrew Pollard, the professor of pediatric infection and immunity at the University of Oxford and director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said in an interview with BBC Radio 4's "Today" program that they are "getting close," and the vaccine might come before Christmas.

"I think the reason we are so delighted is that the immune responses look exactly the same, even in those over 70 years of age. The other thing that we found, which I think is extremely important is that the vaccine is extremely well tolerated in those who are over 55," Pollard said.

The researchers from The University of Oxford and AstraZeneca began working on the vaccine in January and they started their human clinical trials in April.

They started their Phase 3 trial studying the effectiveness of the vaccine in August.

Pollard also explained, "We have to have some cases occurring, at least in the control group in the study, in order to be able to assess whether the vaccine works."

While waiting for the full result of Stage 3 human clinical trial, the UK government has already ordered 100 million doses.