Oxford-Astra Covid-19 vaccine shows dual immune action, says researcher

Study shows the vaccine is safe, but it is still too soon to know if it can stop people from being infected

A coronavirus vaccine the University of Oxford is developing with AstraZeneca showed promising results in early human testing, a sign of progress in the high-stakes pursuit of a shot to defeat the pathogen.

The vaccine increased levels of both protective neutralising antibodies and immune T-cells that target the virus, according to the study organisers. The results were published Monday in The Lancet medical journal.

AstraZeneca shares rose as much as 10 per cent in London but gave up some of those gains to trade 2.8 per cent higher as researchers cautioned that the results were preliminary. A positive outcome had been widely