Last week was a big one for Sarah Gilbert at the University of Oxford, leader of the team that created the “Oxford vaccine”, a front runner in the race for a coronavirus vaccine. On 20 July, her team published results showing that the vaccine produces the desired immune responses in people. Now the big question is whether it really protects people from infection. The team is running a trial in which thousands of people are given either the vaccine or a placebo. They aren’t told which, so they don’t change their behaviour. A vaccine might not completely protect against the virus, however. “We all want the best vaccine we can get, but will accept one that is safe, despite some tolerable side effects immediately after vaccination, and reduces mortality,” says Gilbert. Read more Vaccine hopes: There are more than 160 coronavirus vaccines in development , and we don’t yet […]