E-Paper
Oxford’s Covid-19 vaccine safe in older adults, induces immune response: Lancet
The Phase 2 trial of the Oxford vaccine has been found to be safe in healthy older adults and induces immune response, The Lancet reported on Thursday
The Phase 2 trial of the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine has been found to be safe in healthy older adults and induces immune response, The Lancet reported on Thursday, adding more “encouraging” data to previous results from the widely-watched trial.
The latest data is based on a study of 560 healthy adults, including 240 over the age of 70 years, showing that the vaccine is better tolerated in older people compared to younger adults, and produces a similar immune response in old and young adults
The journal reported that the Phase 2 trial finds that the vaccine causes few side-effects, and induces immune responses in both parts of the immune system in all age groups and at low and standard dose.
It provokes a T cell response within 14 days of the first dose of vaccination, and an antibody response within 28 days of the booster dose of vaccination.
Phase 3 trials of the vaccine are ongoing to confirm the results – as well as how effective the vaccine is in protecting against infection with Sars-CoV-2 – in a broader range of people, including older adults with underlying health conditions.
The study’s lead author Andrew Pollard said, “Immune responses from vaccines are often lessened in older adults because the immune system gradually deteriorates with age, which also leaves older adults more susceptible to infections. As a result, it is crucial that Covid-19 vaccines are tested in this group who are also a priority group for immunisation.”
Co-author Maheshi Ramasamy said, “The robust antibody and T cell responses seen in older people in our study are encouraging. The populations at greatest risk of serious Covid-19 disease include people with existing health conditions and older adults.”
Melissa Andrew of Dalhousie University, Canada, who was not involved in the study, wrote in a linked comment, “It is encouraging that more studies in older adult populations are underway and will hopefully bring opportunities to implement nuanced analyses of how underlying health status and frailty affect vaccine safety, reactogenicity, immunogenicity, and efficacy in older adults in real-world settings. Older adults and those who care about them are eagerly awaiting this progress towards safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines.”
