Oxford Covid-19 Vaccine Shows Positive Results, Indians are Already Lining Up With Memes

Oxford University’s Phase-1 and Phase-2 trials on their Covid-19 vaccine showed that there was no major adverse reaction and it induced a strong antibody and T cell immune response among participants.

The vaccine triggered a T-Cell response within 14 days of vaccination and an antibody response within 28 days, a paper published in The Lancet journal said. A T cell response refers to the attack of the white blood cells on the cells that are infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the University of Oxford said.

The paper in The Lancet was much anticipated as the Oxford University’s experimental vaccine has been touted as one of the front-runners among over 20 vaccine candidates that have entered the human trial stage.

A phase-I trial typically enrolls healthy volunteers to test the safety of the vaccine. The Oxford team though tried to look at both safety and efficacy of the experimental vaccine on the participants.

Participants showed detectable neutralising antibodies, which have been suggested by researchers as important for protection, the University said. The strongest response was noted among those who received two doses of the vaccine.

As news of the vaccine working being positive started circulating, Indians started lining up on Twitter to be 'next in line' to get it on a mass scale - by celebrating it with memes.

But there's another India connection, though. If the world is to gain access to a vaccine for COVID-19, there's a good chance it will pass through the doors of Serum Institute of India.

Read More: How One Indian Company in Pune Could be The World's Door to a Coronavirus Vaccine

Serum Institute, the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines by volume, is working on several candidates for the novel coronavirus - including potentially mass-producing the AstraZeneca/Oxford university one that has garnered global headlines - as well as developing its own.