Oxford to combine trials with Sputnik vaccine

[Orangeblossom77777]

AstraZeneca has announced that will begin recruiting people aged 18 and over for trials combining the AstraZeneca and Oxford University vaccine with Russia's Sputnik V, produced by the Gamaleya Institute research facility in Moscow.

The aim is to see if this helps to boost people's immune response and improve protection from the virus.

The company told the BBC that the trials would be held in Russia, but it's not clear when they would start or how many people would be involved.

In a press release, AstraZeneca said: "Scientific collaboration with Gamaleya Research Institute is important to explore the potential of vaccine combinations unlocking synergies in protection and accessibility through a portfolio approach."

Any thoughts? I'm a bit unsure about the Russian vaccine...

I would like to understand more also.

The other thing is why the need for volunteers to travel to Russia? Can't it be done in the UK?

I'm a bit unsure about the Russian vaccine...

If it's good enough for AstraZeneca and Oxford, why would it not be good enough for you?

There have been concerns about the Russian vaccine trials.
www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3270

Other issues with Russia and Oxford in the past also..

www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-53429506

www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54936886

Ah I thought they were looking to do it in U.K.. I imagine they’ll recruit Russian citizens.

If it's good enough for AstraZeneca and Oxford, why would it not be good enough for you?

See BMJ summary above

I'm sceptical about the 'Russian hackers' claims. And the BMJ article is from August, which is a lifetime ago in Covid terms.

I doubt AZ and Oxford would collaborate with them if they felt they were dodgy.

@IcedPurple

If it's good enough for AstraZeneca and Oxford, why would it not be good enough for you

I don't mean to attack you personally. But this blinkered attitude is not helping. People are coming up with valid questions

But this blinkered attitude is not helping

"Helping" what?

It’s an interesting development as I was listening to a Times Radio podcast a couple of weeks ago where one of the Russian Health Ministers maybe even the top guy was calling the Oxford vaccine the monkey vaccine and encouraging anti Oxford vaccine propaganda e.g spreading cartoons on the internet to discredit the vaccine. An example was a line of people walking into a building with Astra Zeneca on it and then a second line of monkeys exiting the building. He was asked to stop doing this by the podcast interviewer and he said he would.

Yes, more about that here..

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/russians-spread-fake-news-over-oxford-coronavirus-vaccine-2nzpk8vrq

"Pictures, memes and video clips depicting the British-made vaccine as dangerous have been devised in Russia and middlemen are now seeking to “seed” the images on social media networks around the world.

The crude theme of the distorted images is that the vaccine, millions of doses of which will be manufactured by the pharmaceutical giant Astrazeneca, could turn people into monkeys because it uses a chimpanzee virus as a vector. The campaign is being targeted at countries where Russia wants to sell its own Sputnik V vaccine, as well as western nations.

It has the potential to damage not just the Oxford programme but the wider global effort to protect against the virus by encouraging conspiracy theorists and the anti-vaccination movement.

“Misinformation is a clear risk to public health,” Pascal Soriot, the chief executive of Astrazeneca, said. “I urge everyone to use reliable sources of information, to trust regulatory agencies and to remember the enormous benefit vaccines and medicines continue to bring to humanity.”

Maybe Oxford has decided to try and work with them instead? Not sure.

@IcedPurple

"Helping" what?

I get the impression that your intention is to get as many people vaccinated as possible (I may be wrong)

And those comments can be irritating for someone who wants to read as much as possible and form their own view before making a decision (I certainly find them off-putting)

By shutting down debate you may be inadvertently pushing people away

It would be good if people could just stick to the topic and discuss things on here sometimes without it getting emotive. Is it not possible to just have a rational discussion without it heading into insults and drama?

Yes. I imagine collaboration is much better than the opposite. My understanding is that the technology of the two vaccines is actually very similar.
And hopefully it will stop the misinformation?

Yes, and also doing more trials may be beneficial if they have not done so before. It might help with checking it is safe etc. Maybe it will be a helpful thing?

[quote trulydelicious]@IcedPurple

"Helping" what?

I get the impression that your intention is to get as many people vaccinated as possible (I may be wrong)

And those comments can be irritating for someone who wants to read as much as possible and form their own view before making a decision (I certainly find them off-putting)

By shutting down debate you may be inadvertently pushing people away[/quote]
I'm not sure how asking the OP why she feels AZ and Oxford are wrong to collaborate with the Gamaleya Institute is 'shutting down debate'?

If you find my comments 'irritating' by all means scroll past. Nobody is forcing you to read them, let alone reply to them.

It can’t hurt anyway. International collaboration is a fantastic thing and to be treasured.
The Russian vaccine had higher efficacy than the Oxford one iirc but on a much smaller number of people and not as extensive trials so it would be an interesting collaboration i think.

I didn't say i thought it was 'wrong'. Goodness, why does it always have to be about taking sides on things? I was just trying to have a discussion.

Anyway here is a summary from Nature about the Russian vaccine, and it seems they have asked Oxford to take part in further work with them.

www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03209-0

Very interesting development.
There are already plans to test different combinations of vaccines, I didn't know the Russian vaccine was going to be included. I can't see any reasons why not though.

So we can work with others for vaccines ... hope we can for trade as well!

Does this mean the oxford vaccine isn’t getting approved any time soon? Or could this trial run alongside the vaccine actually being rolled out?

There is some more info here...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55273907

@Fleshlumpeater

Does this mean the oxford vaccine isn’t getting approved any time soon? Or could this trial run alongside the vaccine actually being rolled out?

No, it doesn't mean that at all. It's just that combining two different vaccines can possibly increase the efficacy of both. It's exciting that scientists are already moving onto this phase. It might be possible to develop a combination that is 100% effective.

This makes sense. The Oxford and Russian vaccines use similar technology in that they use another virus (a deactivated chimpanzee virus in the case of Oxford) as a vector. There is a risk with this that the immune system neutralises the chimp virus before it creates antibodies against coronavirus.

The Oxford vaccine uses the same vector in both doses. If two different vectors are used, the chance of getting antibodies against coronavirus is greater.