The Coronavirus vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca Plc AZN.L and Oxford University produced a strong immune response in older adults.

Results punished this morning in the Lancet show that people aged over 70 – who are at higher risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19 – could build robust immunity to the pandemic disease.

The robust antibody and T-cell responses seen in older people in our study are encouraging,” said Maheshi Ramasamy, a consultant and a co-lead investigator at the Oxford Vaccine Group.

“The populations at greatest risk of serious COVID-19 disease include people with existing health conditions and older adults. We hope that this means our vaccine will help to protect some of the most vulnerable people in society, but further research will be needed before we can be sure.”

The UK has already ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford vaccine

Cases of COVID-19 rose 11% in England in the latest week, with the proportion of people testing positive staying steady, the country’s test and trace programme said on Thursday, adding that contacts reached were still near a record low percentage.

There were 167,369 people testing positive between 5 November and 11 November, up 11% on the previous week.

Of the 313,771 people identified as coming into close contact with a positive cases, 60.5% were reached, similar to the record low proportion of 59.6% hit last month.

Meanwhile ministers are expected to sketch out proposals next week which will enable families to see each other at Christmas. Proposals are also under review to allow people to meet one or two other households indoors during a fixed period of time.

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