Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Initial Results From Oxford COVID Vaccine Trial Appear Hopeful
NPR: Vaccine From Oxford-AstraZeneca Shows Promising Results In Early Human Trial
An experimental coronavirus vaccine triggered an immune response against COVID-19 in study participants, and it has only minor side effects, according to new data published in the medical journal The Lancet. The vaccine, called AZD1222 for now, is being developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca. It uses a different, harmless virus to deliver biological instructions for how to fight off the coronavirus. According to a phase one/phase two study of more than 1,000 patients, the vaccine triggered two immune responses: an increase in antibodies and a T-cell response. This, scientists said, is a good sign. (Harris and Lupkin, 7/20)
USA Today: University Of Oxford Coronavirus Vaccine Candidate Shows Early Promise
Early stage trials explore only safety and dosing and cannot determine a vaccine's effectiveness, but signs indicate that all four candidate vaccines are leading to immune responses similar to those experienced by people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. About 17 candidate vaccines are being tested in people around the world. (Weintraub and Hjelmgaard, 7/20)
Stat: New Data Offer Glimpse Of Efficacy Of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine
While the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, known as AZD1222, has moved most rapidly into larger-scale studies of any major contender — and AstraZeneca has said that billions of doses could be manufactured — the new data represent the first glimpse researchers have gotten at its efficacy. They show a relatively safe vaccine — though side effects were greater than for a meningitis vaccine, to which it was compared — that engages the immune system to fight the virus. AstraZeneca said that, because of the results, it is likely that future studies will test giving patients two doses of the vaccine. (Herper, Garde and Branswell, 7/20)
The New York Times: Oxford Covid Vaccine Among Those Developers Say Have Promising Initial Results
The race for a vaccine against the coronavirus intensified on Monday as three competing laboratories released promising results from early trials in humans. Now comes the hard part: proving that any of the vaccines protects against the virus, and establishing how much immunity they provide — and for how long. Two of the vaccine developers — the first, a partnership between Oxford University and the British-Swedish drug maker AstraZeneca; the second, the Chinese company CanSino Biologics — published their early results as peer-reviewed studies in The Lancet, a British medical journal. (Kirkpatric, 7/20)
