A vaccine for COVID-19 could be ready as soon as September, according to a professor from Oxford University.

Sarah Gilbert is a professor of vaccinology and says that she is “80% confident” a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by her team will work.

Her team at Oxford is part of a global effort to find a vaccine for coronavirus which has killed more than 100,000 people around the world, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Professor Gilbert has said that human trials are set to take place within the next fortnight, and that she has been working seven days a week to get a vaccine rushed through.

She told The Times newspaper: “I think there’s a high chance that it will work based on other things that we have done with this type of vaccine.
“It’s not just a hunch and as every week goes by we have more data to look at. I would go for 80%, that’s my personal view.”

She added that having something ready by the autumn is “just about possible if everything goes perfectly”, but warned that “nobody can promise it’s going to work”.
The lockdown in the UK could make it more difficult to test the vaccine, as human contact is low, so researchers will have to conduct trials somewhere with a higher rate of transmission, to get a quicker result.

Earlier in the week, researchers at Southampton University said they had discovered that the virus has “low shielding”, meaning a vaccine could be easier to develop.

The UK is at the forefront of vaccine funding, and pumped £210m into an international fund last month – the biggest contribution at the time for a vaccine.
The government has also said that it would be willing to buy millions of doses, should trials prove successful.

However, despite the optimism from Oxford, other vaccine developers have said it could be up to a year before something is ready to distribute.

Ministers have been under pressure to explain details of the government’s exit-strategy from the ongoing lockdown, but scientists say that it is too early to consider removing the widespread restrictions while the number of dead still rises.

To report this post you need to login first.
Previous articleTrump thinks Covid-19 has outwitted antibiotics. How many of his supporters believe him?
Next articleApparently Boris Johnson watched Withnail and I whilst convalescing
Dorset Eye
Dorset Eye is an independent not for profit news website built to empower all people to have a voice. To be sustainable Dorset Eye needs your support. Please help us to deliver independent citizen news... by clicking the link below and contributing. Your support means everything for the future of Dorset Eye. Thank you.

4 COMMENTS

  1. Hey just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text in your article seem to be running off the screen in Opera. I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with internet browser compatibility but I figured I’d post to let you know. The style and design look great though! Hope you get the problem fixed soon. Many thanks

  2. You really make it appear really easy along with your presentation but I to find this topic to be actually something which I believe I might never understand. It seems too complicated and extremely extensive for me. I am having a look forward in your subsequent put up, I will try to get the cling of it!