LONDON – A trial of the experimental AstraZeneca vaccine COVID-19 in pigs found that two doses of the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford produced a greater antibody response than a single dose, scientists said on Tuesday.
Research published by the Pirbright Institute in Great Britain found that administering an initial main dose followed by a booster injection dose elicited a greater immune response than a single dose, suggesting that a two-dose approach may be more effective to obtain protection against the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
The ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine was originally developed by researchers at the University of Oxford, who are now working with AstraZeneca in development and production.
The vaccine is already in intermediate-stage human trials, and AstraZeneca has said it expects to have data demonstrating its efficacy later this year. Pigs are a useful research model for this type of vaccine, and other trials have been able to predict the vaccine’s results in humans, particularly in influenza studies. (Report by Kate Kelland, Jason Neely edition)
