PEOPLE in Oxfordshire are among volunteers recruited for another promising Covid vaccine.

US biotech company Novavax is running trials in Oxford as part of more than 15,203 participants recruited across the UK. It is the largest double blind, placebo-controlled Covid-19 vaccine trial to be undertaken in the country so far.

It comes as the first Pfizer vaccinations against coronavirus were carried out in the city this week and new analysis of the Oxford University candidate showed it was 'safe and effective'.

The Novavax phase three trial, that last stage before being submitted to regulators for approval, opened in the UK on September 23 and recruited its final study participant at the end of last month. The UK is the first country in the world to undertake and deliver a phase three trial for the Novavax jab.

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Another earlier stage trial is currently underway in South Africa – with 4,422 volunteers taking part.

The company also expects its phase three trial in the US and Mexico to begin within weeks.

In total, nearly 20,000 participants around the world have already been dosed. More than 25 per cent of volunteers are over the age of 65, while a large proportion of participants having underlying medical conditions generally representative of the population.

Interim data is expected as soon as the beginning of next year.