A Covid-19 vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca showed a promising immune response and low levels of adverse reactions in the elderly and older adults, according to an interim analysis.
www.wsj.com
One of the world's leading COVID-19 experimental vaccines produces an immune response in both young and old adults, raising hopes of a path out of the gloom and economic destruction wrought by the novel coronavirus.
www.reuters.com
Both of these articles are based upon an announcement by oxford-astrazeneca promoting preliminary results on their own trials. I suspect part of their motive for issuing a statement now is that they want to get news out so that people will wait for their own drug if it is not the first on the market.
That having been said, there are two promising notes in their announcement. The immune protection appears to be as effective in seniors as it is in younger people. (The immune system for older people tends to be weaker and thus a vaccine that works well for younger people might not always be as effective for older adults.) Secondly, the side effects of administering the vaccine (potential for fever, swelling, body aches) actually have been less in older adults than younger people. (Found in the first article cited above, but that article is behind a pay wall.)
Somewhere I read that the expectation is that this vaccine would have to be administered yearly. The first vaccination will require two shots. I don't know if the yearly "booster" would require two shots or not.
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