Two vaccines under development against Covid-19, one British and one Chinese, have shown a good immune response and have proven safe for patients, according to the results of two separate clinical trials published Monday in the British medical journal The Lancet.
The first vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford in cooperation with the drug company AstraZeneca, triggered a "strong immune response" in a trial of more than 1,000 patients in Britain.
A second vaccine, developed by researchers in Wuhan, China, funded by the Chinese "Cansino Biology", showed a strong response in antibody production, and proved safe for most of the 500 patients involved in a separate trial.
The two trials are still in an initial stage, and their efficacy will have to be proven in a subsequent experiment with a larger number of participants before their marketing is widely studied.
However, the results were expected with close anticipation, amid a race that is being fought by many researchers and laboratories in the world in order to produce a safe and effective vaccine against the emerging coronavirus.
Neither of the two trials reported serious side effects, and the most common adverse effects were fever, fatigue, and pain at the injection site.
The authors of the study warned that more research is still needed, especially among the elderly who are more likely to die from HIV infection.
The results are "promising," said Sarah Gilbert, a researcher at Oxford University who contributed to the study.
"If our vaccine is effective, then this is a promising option, as this type of vaccine can be easily manufactured on a large scale," she added.
Johnson: Very positive news
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the initial results of clinical trials of the vaccine, produced by AstraZeneca for Covid-19 disease, as "very positive news".
"This is very positive news. Congratulations to the most prominent scientists and researchers at the University of Oxford," Johnson said on Twitter in a tweet in which he posted a link to the data.
"There are no guarantees. We have not reached this stage yet and more tests are required, but this is an important step on the right track," he added.
Agreement for a vaccine in Britain
Parallel to the progress in research on a vaccine for the virus, the British government announced on Monday agreements on obtaining 90 million doses of vaccines under development against the Covid-19 epidemic, from the German-American alliance Piontech and Pfizer and the French laboratory Valneva.
These agreements add to the agreement concluded with the British company AstraZeneca to obtain 100 million doses of the vaccine developed by Oxford University, which is more promising than others.
It is not yet clear whether these vaccines will succeed, and the number of doses needed to vaccinate one person.
European efforts to save the recovery plan
At the European level, European Union leaders meet again on Monday, the fourth day of a summit characterized by great tension and deep differences, in an effort to save the plan to revive the economy in the hope of compensating part of the economic losses left by Coffid-19 globally.
After a day of nightly (Sunday) discussions, the session between the 27 EU leaders was suspended early Monday morning.
In the face of resistance to the so-called “economic” countries (Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Austria), European Council President Charles Michel will propose adjusting the share of subsidies in the recovery plan, which has a total value of 750 billion euros, to 390 billion against 500 billion in the initial proposal, with the remainder to be loans. .
The infection countdown continues to climb
, and the Coruna virus has killed more than 610,000 people since it first appeared in China last December. The number of infected people has exceeded 14 million, of whom more than 8 million have recovered.
The United States is still the most affected country in terms of deaths and injuries (143 thousand deaths among 3.9 million injuries), followed by the number of deaths Brazil (79 thousand and 535 deaths) then Britain (45 thousand and 300) then Mexico (39 thousand and 184) and Italy ( 35 thousand and 45 deaths).
At the level of the Arab countries, the first doctor in Lebanon died today, Monday, from infection with the Corona virus, knowing that since last February the country had officially registered 2859 cases of Covid-19.
In Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Health monitored in a statement 37 deaths and 2,429 cases of coronavirus.
The ministry confirmed that the death toll has increased to 253,349, including 2523 deaths, and 203,259 cases of recovery.
In the Sultanate of Oman, the Ministry of Health recorded 8 deaths and 1,739 cases of corona in a statement.
The ministry stated that the total number of injuries rose to 68,400, including 326 deaths, 45 thousand and 150 recoveries.
In Qatar, the Ministry of Health monitored in two cases two deaths and 389 epidemics.
The ministry stated that the total number of injuries rose to 107 thousand and 37 cases, including 159 deaths, 103 thousand and 782 recovery cases.
In the UAE, the Ministry of Health announced in a death registration statement and 271 cases of corona virus.
The ministry said that the total number of injuries rose to 57,193, including 340 deaths, 49,621 and recovery cases.
In Kuwait, the Ministry of Health announced in a statement that it had registered 559 cases of the virus.
The ministry said the number of injuries had risen to 59,763, including 408 deaths, 50,339 cases of recovery.