BRITISH scientists thought to be leading the global race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine are close to a major breakthrough according to reports.<\/p>\n
The life-saving antibody treatment developed by Oxford University has been hailed as potentially vital for the elderly and vulnerable, whose bodies may not respond well to a vaccine. Millions of doses of the treatment is already being manufactured by pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca in the expectation that it will work.<\/p>\n
The vaccine, named ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, is made from a weakened version of the common cold virus, which causes infections in chimpanzees.<\/p>\n
The virus has been manipulated to not cause harm to humans, but contains part of COVID-19 so to trigger the body\u2019s immune response to the virus\u2019s spike proteins, which it uses to enter human cells and multiply.<\/p>\n
A separate project to create an antibody treatment for those especially vulnerable to COVID-19 is also being developed, with the team confident it will prove successful.<\/p>\n
Testing for the treatment is now said to be moving at \u201cfull speed\u201d.<\/p>\n
Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, has described the treatment as a \u201ccombination of two antibodies\u201d in an injected dose.<\/p>\n
This kind of treatment should reduce the chance that someone would develop resistance to one of them.<\/p>\n
He told The Sunday Telegraph that the treatment could be vital for the elderly and vulnerable, \u201cwho may not be able to develop a good response to the vaccine\u201d.<\/p>\n
However, healthy people can develop antibodies to a disease to fight off the infection and protect them from it in future, meaning coronavirus antibody testing has become a key priority for governments around the world.<\/p>\n
Thousands of frontline NHS staff have started being given antibody tests for COVID-19 to find out if they have had it.<\/p>\n
However, scientists are still uncertain as to whether antibodies provide guaranteed immunity to the virus.<\/p>\n
While an effective antibody treatment could be vital for some, Mr Soriot told The Sunday Telegraph the vaccine remains the priority.<\/p>\n
He explained that production for antibody therapies is far more expensive than it is for vaccines.<\/p>\n
Mr Soriot has previously suggested that scientists will know by July if the Oxford vaccine will work.<\/p>\n
AstraZeneca has signed deals ensuring millions of doses of the Oxford vaccine can be manufactured if it works.<\/p>\n
One is with Microsoft founder Bill Gates, to supply doses to low and middle-income countries; the other is with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.<\/p>\n
Around 30 million could be made available in the UK as early as September, Downing Street has said.<\/p>\n
However, some scientists have expressed caution over how soon any vaccine could be made available.<\/p>\n
Trials are ongoing in the UK and have also got started in Brazil, after concerns that the UK\u2019s falling transmission rate could stifle the work being done.<\/p>\n
Under the leadership of President Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil has become one of the epicentres of the disease.<\/p>\n
The president has been accused of repeatedly downplaying the threat of COVID-19 as cases rise across South America.<\/p>\n
Brazil is second to the US in the number of cases globally, with more than 670,000, and has reported 35,930 deaths.<\/p>\n
According to Johns Hopkins University figures, worldwide coronavirus deaths currently stand at 401,564.<\/p>\n
Cases are now approaching 7 million, with 6,973,195 currently confirmed.<\/p>\n
The US, has the highest deaths and infections globally, has 1,931,850 confirmed cases and 110,141 deaths.<\/p>\n