1.原文連結：
https://reurl.cc/1x82r8
2.原文內容：
New Delhi: Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine failed to prevent the
monkeys from being infected with the novel coronavirus in trials, dashing the
UK's hopes of a safe and effective vaccine this year. The vaccine is among
the top candidates that are currently being tested on humans. But detailed
results from the animal trials showed that the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine did
not stop rhesus macaque monkeys from contracting the virus, and it does not
stop the animals from spreading the infection to others as well.
The results, however, suggested that the vaccine may help reduce the severity
of the disease. The findings of the trial being carried out at the National
Institute of Health’s Rocky Mountain Laboratory in the US, were revealed by
Dr William Haseltine, a former Harvard Medical School professor. Writing in
an article in Forbes magazine which was published on Monday, Dr Haseltine
said that the Oxford vaccine data raises question as to why the trial was
still continuing on humans.
“All of the vaccinated monkeys treated with the Oxford vaccine became
infected when challenged as judged by recovery of virus genomic RNA from
nasal secretions. There was no difference in the amount of viral RNA detected
from this site in the vaccinated monkeys as compared to the unvaccinated
animals,” Dr Haseltine wrote.
For the trials, six rhesus macaque monkeys were given doses of ChAdOx1
nCoV-19 vaccine and they were exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus 28 days later.
The researchers also infected three non-vaccinated monkeys for comparison.
The researchers observed that all the vaccinated animals had SARS-CoV-19 in
their respiratory tracts, although they developed virus-specific neutralising
antibodies. The levels of virus shed by all the monkeys were also found to be
similar. However, the paper is yet to be peer-reviewed.
According to Jonathan Ball, professor of molecular virology at the University
of Nottingham, viral loads in the noses of vaccinated and unvaccinated
animals were identical is very significant, adding that if the same happened
in humans, the vaccine would not stop the virus from spreading it to others.
Ball said he believes that this finding should warrant an urgent re-appraisal
of the ongoing human trials of the ChAdOx1 vaccine, said a report in
Express.co.uk.