Agencies

A coronavirus vaccine being developed by researchers at the University of Oxford is on track for release in October, according to a leading scientist.

A potential coronavirus vaccine being developed by researchers at the University of Oxford is on track for release in October, a leading scientist has said. Project leader professor Adrian Hill, the director of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford, said the experimental COVID-19 vaccine has shown very good results in animals (chimpanzees) and has already moved to the next phase of human trials.

The Oxford�s vaccine, called ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, developed together with pharmaceuticals group AstraZeneca, is already being tested in volunteers in Brazil. The Oxford�s jab is one of the most promising of the dozens being tested in humans and is the first to enter the final stages of clinical trials to assess how well it works in protecting people from becoming infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes COVID-19.

A resident from Soweto has become the first South African to be injected with the Oxford's vaccine as researchers race to hunt for a cure for the dreaded disease. Mhlongo (24), is one of about 2,000 South Africans who will take part in the trial. According to Oxford, more than 4,000 participants are enrolled in the clinical trial in Britain, with another 10,000 due to be recruited.

Professor Hill recently told attendees of a webinar of the Spanish Society of Rheumatology that the �best scenario� would see clinical trials produce results by August or September and the vaccine on the market by October, reported