COVID-19 vaccine trials: Some promising results, still many unknowns

An employee is seen at the Reference Center for Special Immunobiologicals (CRIE) of the Federal University of Sao Paulo, where trials of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine are conducted, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, June 24, 2020. Credit: REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli/File Photo.

KCRW looks at the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine trial, the importance of both safety and effectiveness, and the complications of rolling out a vaccine on a global scale. 

“The other major unknown is how long vaccine immunity will last. … Coronavirus immunity may be much shorter than anything to do with, say, measles. So a vaccine response may diminish in intensity after several months, and may need additional booster shots. We don't know yet,” says John P. Moore, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College.