Microbiologist is first in line for Oxford University's Covid-19 vaccine trial

A microbiologist has become the first human to be injected for the human trial phase of a vaccine in the UK against the novel coronavirus being developed by a group of scientists at the University of Oxford.

Elisa Granato is the first volunteer in an initial group of 800 to be part of the ground-breaking trial, which is hoped will be the answer for immunisation against the deadly virus and help with the easing of lockdown measures in place to curb its rapid transmission.

"I'm a scientist, so I wanted to try to support the scientific process wherever I can," Granato told the BBC as she was injected in Oxford, where the trial began this week.

Since I don't study viruses I felt a bit useless these days, so I felt like this is a very easy way for me to support the cause, she said, as she was injected on her 32nd birthday on Thursday.

Granato is joined by cancer researcher Edward O'Neill as the first two candidates one of whom has been injected with the Covid-19 vaccine being trialled and the other a control vaccine which protects against meningitis.

They will now be monitored for 48 hours to observe the impact of each. Scientists will then gradually start injecting further volunteers, healthy individuals aged between 18 and 55, in a similar half-and-half process with none of the participants aware which vaccine they have been injected with.

Personally I have a high degree of confidence in this vaccine," said Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at the University of Oxford's Jenner Institute, who is leading the research.

"Of course, we have to test it and get data from humans. We have to demonstrate it actually works and stops people getting infected with coronavirus before using the vaccine in the wider population," she said, adding that she remains very optimistic about the outcome.

The team will know if the Covid-19 vaccine works by comparing the number of people who get infected with coronavirus in the months ahead from those in the trial.

Professor Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, who is leading the trial, said: "We're chasing the end of this current epidemic wave. If we don't catch that, we won't be able to tell whether the vaccine works in the next few months.

But we do expect that there will be more cases in the future because this virus hasn't gone away."