Oxford, AstraZeneca Coronavirus Vaccine's Strong Response in Elderly Confirmed in Review

Phase III trials are ongoing to confirm the results and how effective the vaccine is in protecting against COVID-19 infections in a broader range of people, including older adults with underlying health conditions.

Notably, the Covid-19 vaccine developed by scientists at the Oxford University, which is advanced stages of the trial, could be rolled out in as little as three months in the UK. Safety and immunogenicity of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine administered in a prime-boost regimen in young and old adults (COV002): a single-blind, randomised, controlled, phase 2/3 trial.:17.

The publishing of the findings comes hot on the heels of promising news from Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna about their respective vaccine candidates. It has also promised to deliver doses at no profit during the pandemic, and continuing afterward for poorer countries.

The study involved 560 adults, including 240 over the age of 70.

Governments are expected to give priority to older adults in rollouts of vaccines, which could start in limited quantities before the end of this year. For instance, after receiving two standard doses of the coronavirus vaccine, 88% of participants ages 18-55 years and 73% of participants ages 56-69 years experienced "vaccination local reactions". Some participants received just one shot, while others got a booster after 28 days. Most were white nonsmokers.

Pollard's comments came after data published on Thursday showed the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in Phase II studies produced a strong immune response in older adults, suggesting that those at higher risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19 could be protected.

"The robust antibody and T-cell responses seen in older people in our study are encouraging", said co-author Dr. Maheshi Ramasamy, also from Oxford.

The study found that adverse reactions to the vaccine were mild, with the most common effects being injection-site pain and tenderness, fatigue, headache, feverishness and muscle pain - however, these reactions were more common than seen with the control vaccine. Fewer people aged 70 or over experienced those temporary symptoms, compared with younger trial participants, researchers said.