Coronavirus vaccine trial volunteer reveals potential side effects
A British man taking part in a COVID-19 vaccine trial has revealed the potential side effects of the shot.
Simeon Courtie, a writer and former children’s TV presenter, is one of the hundreds of people taking part in Europe’s first human trial run by the Jenner Institute and the Oxford Vaccine Group.
According to Oxford, the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine is a weakened version of a common cold virus that causes infections in chimpanzees.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain on Thursday, Courtie said he was told the side effects would be “something along the lines of having flu”, and the severity would vary.
“I think at worst maybe a fever for a couple of days and some aches and pains,” he said.
“It shouldn’t be too disruptive to my life.”
Courtie said he will have his first dose next Wednesday.
“We are the safety part of this process to see if it’s safe, and after my trial there will be an efficacy trial in the community to see if it works on thousands of people.”
Very happy to be invited onto @GMB with @susannareid100 and @piersmorgan today to talk about volunteering on the Oxford Vaccine Trial which starts today. Good luck to the amazing scientists at @JennerInstitute 💉 pic.twitter.com/hfZJ14rX0B
— Simeon Courtie (@simcourtie) April 23, 2020
Courtie is one of the more than 800 people recruited for the study, which began on Thursday.
Half of the participants will receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and the rest a control vaccine which protects against meningitis but not the coronavirus.
Two people have been injected with the vaccine, which was developed in under three months at Oxford University.
Elisa Granato is one of the two volunteers who received the jab.
“Personally I have a high degree of confidence in this vaccine,” Granato told the BBC.
“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.”
Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at the Jenner Institute and the leader of the pre-clinical research, said she was “very optimistic” the vaccine would work.