A third potential coronavirus vaccine which was developed by the University of Oxford has emerged, with interim data suggesting 70% protection, however researchers says the figure may be as high as 90% by tweaking the dose.

The development which was announced on Monday provides additional hope that the world is drawing nearer to getting a handle on the Covid-19 pandemic which has already claimed more than 600,000 lives worldwide. 

In its Phase I trial, the vaccine induced so-called neutralising antibodies – the kind that stop the virus from infecting cells – in 91 percent of individuals one month after they got one dose, and in all 10 subjects who got a second dose after 28 days, echoing a similar trial in pigs.

These levels were on par with the antibodies produced by people who had survived a COVID-19 infection – a key benchmark of potential success.