Virus vaccine trials continue at Oxford University

Trials for a new COVID-19 vaccine continued at Oxford University in the UK this week.

The university on Wednesday released new footage of blood tests being carried out on volunteers at their clinical laboratories.

Researchers at the university gave injections to volunteers in a study that eventually aims to include hundreds in hopes of telling not only if the vaccine is safe but if it works.

Researchers created the new vaccine by inserting genes for a spikey protein that studs the outer surface of the new coronavirus into another, harmless virus.

The idea: the immune system will spot the foreign protein and make antibodies to fight it, primed to react quickly if the person eventually is exposed to COVID-19.

The Oxford University programme is the first in the UK to develop a possible vaccine for coronavirus.

Dozens of vaccine candidates are in various stages of development around the world.

Experts have cautioned that even if early studies go well, it will be at least a year before any are available for widespread use.