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A team of scientists at Oxford University say they've reached an “important milestone” in their work to develop a vaccine for coronavirus. Following early trials on thousands of people, they say the vaccine they're developing appears to be safe and does trigger an immune response. The UK government has already ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine. But while the findings are promising the experts say it's still too soon to know how much protection it offers and larger trials are now under way. The UK government has secured early access to millions of doses of potential Covid-19 vaccines that are being prepared by medical researchers. Vaccines to protect people from the coronavirus are being developed both in the UK and around the world. The latest results from the Oxford trial are that the vaccine appears safe and triggers an immune response. Trials involving 1,077 people showed the injection led to them making antibodies and T-cells, the body's natural way of fighting disease, that can fight coronavirus. The findings are hugely promising, but there are some side-effects and it is still too soon to know if this is enough to offer protection, so larger trials are under way. During the interview by bbc on Tuesday (21/27/20) in London, the lead investigator of Oxford university, Professor Andrew Pollard said that he is pleased for the trial result but they still need to do more research on it.

“…We really pleased with the results that published today because we seeing both neutralizing antibody responses and T-cell responses. That we are optimistic maybe associated with protection but we still need to conduct those trials to prove that case in human.” Professor Pollard said. 

Making a vaccine, and having it ready to give to people take a long time and though none is ready at the moment, the government has put in an early order to get them as soon as they are available. The UK National Health Service says that vaccines are the most effective way to prevent infectious diseases. They explained that vaccines teach your immune system how to create antibodies that protect you from diseases. On the other hand, a virologist, st. George, University of London, Dr. Elisabetta Gropelli said that researchers still have a lot of work to do more trials because there’s still failing possibility.

“…This is very good and very promising to start with, however we have seen vaccine reaching this point and also failing so we need to be a little bit careful and not quite pop it in public sector, just yet.” Dr. Gropelli said. 

The order would be enough to vaccinate people in priority groups across the whole of the UK, such as frontline health and social care workers and those with a higher health risk. Even when they are ready, some people won't be able to take vaccines because of other health issues, so the government has also ordered alternative treatments that could be used instead. However, as the vaccines aren't ready yet and it's not clear how well they'll work. (NK/bbc)