Study says Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine produced strong response in older adults

New Delhi, Nov 19: The COVID-19 vaccines that the University of Oxford is developing with AstraZeneca has produced a strong immune response in older adults in an early study along with pivotal findings from the final phase of trials that are expected in the coming weeks.

The results that were published in The Lancet medical journal shed more light on the preliminary data released in recent months showing the experimental shot generated an immune response in older people who are higher risk.

Researchers are still awaiting late-stage trial results that will show whether the Astra-Oxford vaccine can meet the high bar set by companies like Moderna and Pfizer.

An Oxford researcher wrote in a statement that inducing robust immune responses in older adults has been a long-standing challenge.

"To show this vaccine technology is able to induce these responses -- in the age group most at risk from severe Covid-19 disease offers hope that vaccine efficacy will be similar in younger and older adults," Angela Minassian, an investigator at Oxford, wrote in a statement.

The results of Oxford's phase-2 study show that the vaccine is better tolerated in older people and produces similar immune response in old and young adults. The study involved 560 adults of which 240 were above the age of 70.