These findings are reported in two papers, both released in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Medicine.
Previous studies have shown that in order to develop any vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, two key elements of the immune system need to be activated: a neutralising antibody against the coronavirus spike protein which is likely to be critically important in protecting against the disease, as well as robust T cell responses.
Professor Katie Ewer, a lead author of one of the papers, said:
‘This highly detailed analysis of the immune responses to ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 further underpins the potential of this vaccine to induce protection against COVID-19 disease and provides additional reassurance of the safety of this approach.’
‘Using these advanced immunological techniques, we can better understand the different cellular and antibody-mediated mechanisms that contribute to the protection afforded by this vaccine, as demonstrated in the recent data from the subsequent Phase 3 trials’.
The full story is available on the University of Oxford website