Have we lost faith in the Oxford vaccine trials?

[stuckindoors77]

Just wondering what's gone wrong with the trials in the Oxford vaccine (if anything) a week ago they were spread across the papers as the next best thing, now suddenly they've gone quiet. Matt Hancock is saying we may never find a vaccine at all whilst Today's papers are reporting that Italian scientists have found the first possible vaccine (it works in mice apparently!) so what aren't they telling us do you think?

It takes a lot longer than a week to get vaccine trial results. You sound a bit deranged to be honest.

Deranged? Erm in what way...... I just asked a question.

To clarify, I don't expect results in a week I just wondered why, when there are trials going on in this country the papers are suddenly talking about never finding a a vaccine and about the first vaccine being found in another country.

Sounds as if the Oxford trials may be a non starter somehow and are being quietly dropped...... just musing that's all.

I think the oxford trials are simply at a stage where there’s nothing to report?
And in terms of the talk if there may never be a vaccine.. well that’s just realistic. There might never be. I remain confident and hopeful that there will be but of course it’s not guaranteed. And so the government would not wish us to rely on that too much. Equally if one is found in another country first, so what - all progress is good no matter where it is!

So no I don't think anything has changed, the Oxford team said they would have some idea by July about how it was going so we will hear then I assume.

Erm because they have started now and no longer news?

It will take them a lot longer than a week to known if they work or not

They got a lot of media attention last week because the human trials began. There's nothing new to report this week - but there does happen to be a story about another potential candidate elsewhere. And either of them could be "first" at this point.

Quite a leap to go from that to losing faith!

There was an update on bbc this morning

No point it being talked about day after day.... it's going to take so long

No one has lost faith. Perspective is needed (and patience!)

Thanks, just to clarify, I wasn't expecting news any time soon and I haven't flown into a panic because they haven't declared it an instant success in a week... not that daft 

I just thought that when talking about the first vaccine to be developed in Italy they might have tagged on..... and in Oxford work is ongoing.... sort of thing, which they haven't. This made me wonder if they'd fallen out of favour with the media.

Early results won't be known until at least June, so no news to report really.

@stuckindoors77 well they have.... it was on bbc news this morning. An update from Oxford

Was it @PrayingandHoping I missed that..... thanks

I work in clinical trials (not this one though). In the initial weeks, there is a big push for recruitment numbers. Once you've recruited widely, you don't need anyone else. There's no need to be out there doing PR and garnering interest, as it just means your office gets overrun with people calling who you can't recruit in. They're just getting on with it, booking appointments, gathering initial data, etc. The media is interested in other things now and you won't here much until there are interim results. Perfectly standard for a clinical trial - except this one is happening much faster than they normally do.

Because it was always very optimistic..but we all wanted something to believe in!

Some points to make

• lots of viruses don’t have vaccines (hiv, SARS, Mers)
• vaccines take a long time to develop, usually decades 18 months to two years would be an absolute record!

The oxford trail probably will not get it right first time, they will test/ refine etc. They may eventually develop a safe, workable solution but I think the idea of having a vaccine available by the end of the year was always crazy talk so they need to row back on that quite a bit!

Also, there's been so much said about the Oxford vaccine that if they did have reason to believe it wasn't going to be successful, that would be a news story in its own right. It wouldn't just quietly disappear.

The messaging has changed as gov dont want us sat home not working till sept...
They want us out working and buying stuff.
As how can workplaces justify making vulnerable group go to work if a vax by sept. Likewise would sending schools back make sense?

The message has changed to keep selling papers, that's all. They've already reported on the Oxford trial so they'll get more sales/advertising clicks if they run a different story about never getting a vaccine than if they just run another story on the Oxford trials.

I do not care where it is made, as long as it is safe and works, I will be lining up with my arm out!

It is still looking very positive from Oxford, I know a couple.of people working on it here and its heading in the right direction, so in this case no news is good news! However, they won't know anything until at least July, they have always said that. The plan was then to have the first doses hopefully ready by October and then mass produced during 2021. Fingers crossed....

That all makes a lot of sense!

@Dragonscale ha ha join the club!

Calm down OP. You’re deranged.

On the basis that Astra Zeneca has signed up in partnership to manufacture and distribute with Oxford this week I suspect it is ticking over nicely.

Hearing today about the PPE from Turkey being unfit for purpose...maybe (?) the government has also learned a lesson about over promising?

Calm down OP. You’re deranged

That's the second person to tell me I'm deranged, very odd. As I've said before I was just idly musing after reading the news the last couple of days. Not panicking, certainly not deranged

I wondered the same when I saw the story about the Italian vaccine being the first. Perhaps I am also deranged.

@stuckindoors77 You’re clearly not deranged. I was mocking the person who said that.

lots of viruses don’t have vaccines (hiv, SARS, Mers)
A MERS vaccine is being trialled right now. SARS burned out before a vaccine could be developed.