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Elderly suffer fewer side-effects than young adults in UK’s COVID-19 vaccine trials

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The leading coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine trial of the UK shows that the elder adults suffer from fewer side-effects than younger ones.

In the analysis published in The Lancet medical journal, it showed that the vaccine is “safe and provokes immune response”, and that older adults tolerate it better.

Among the reactions—which were more commonly seen in younger adults—include pain and tenderness at the point of injection, fatigue, headache, fever and muscle pain.

“The robust antibody and T-cell responses seen in older people in our study are encouraging,” said the report’s co-author, Dr Maheshi Ramasamy, of the University of Oxford.

“We hope 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.”

Over 560 adults joined the trial, including 240 people over the age of 70. The study added that the vaccine shows “similar safety and immunogenicity results in healthy older adults to those seen in adults aged 18-55 years.”

“Immune responses from vaccines are often lessened in older adults because the immune system gradually deteriorates with age, which also leaves older adults more susceptible to infections. As a result, it is crucial that COVID-19 vaccines are tested in this group who are also a priority group for immunization,” said Prof Andrew Pollard, the study’s lead author.

The authors said further research is needed to ensure all people from diverse countries and ethnicities are tested.

Staff Report

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