Why are imperial testing their new vaccine in this country?

[TingTastic]

I’ve seen the news that Imperial are now testing their vaccine which is a great sign. However, what’s the point in testing 300 people in this country when they are very unlikely to actually come into contact with the virus (and you obviously can’t deliberately bring them into contact with the virus for ethical reasons?). I thought the oxford vaccine is now being tested in other countries (Brazil maybe?) for this exact problem

Because they’re going to be exposed to Covid.

The Oxford vaccine is at a later stage of trials, where they find out if people who’ve had it still get infected or not. The Imperial one they’re testing a smaller group to see that it’s safe and produces the immune response they’re looking for.

www.imperial.ac.uk/news/198533/first-volunteer-receives-imperial-covid19-vaccine/

'In the initial stage of the trial, 15 healthy volunteers are receiving the vaccine – starting with a low dose and escalating to increasingly higher doses for subsequent volunteers – to assess safety and to find the optimal dosage. '

The Oxford trial are rightly prioritising volunteers who are likely to come into contact with the infection - front line medical staff, teachers etc.

They still need to check safety. That is the first step - will it cause horrendous side effects? Then they can measure efficacy - will it actually protect people? The latter stage they will also do overseas.

I know the Astra Zeneca one has to be tested in Brazil as there aren’t enough people here with the virus.

I find it incredible that a 1 litre bottle can hold 2 million doses! That's truly amazing.

because they still want to test safety/ reactions to it etc

also they can test the volunteers blood to see if antibodies are produced by the vaccine too and how long it takes for the antibodies to appear etc

but testing whether it actually protects against covid may have to move to another country I would think. unless they do challenge trials here

The Imperial vaccine is a completely new type of vaccine. It’s really quite exciting not just from a Covid perspective but vaccination in general! It uses synthetic protein as opposed to a weakened or inactive form of a real virus. It means a tiny amount is needed to vaccinate which would be incredible in terms of getting it out to large populations, particularly perhaps poorer countries.

Also in the initial stages, they are looking at the bodies immune response so seeing if antibodies are produced & TCells activated etc

I’m guessing they will need to go abroad like Oxford have eventually. It was quite ‘nice’ to hear community transmission is so low here they couldn’t effectively test!

First-in-human trial is not about efficacy, it's about safety and seeing how the vaccine works in the human body. The scientists know what they are doing

I'm on the trial and will be getting the vaccine in a couple of weeks.
From what I understand they will check my blood regularly for a year afterwards to check for an antibody response.

I'm on the trial and will be getting the vaccine in a couple of weeks.

Thank you!

@queensvillage1 thank you

Thanks everyone, that makes more sense