London: The Covid-19 vaccine developed at Oxford University works perfectly and builds strong immunity to the virus, a study shows.

Great hopes rest on the vaccine “Oxford-Astra Zeneca”, which is a global front runner and has been shown to safely trigger an immune response in volunteers given it in early trials.

But, unlike traditional vaccines which use a weakened virus, or small amounts of it, the innovative Oxford jab causes the body to make part of the virus itself.

Now researchers led by the University of Bristol have found this daring technology works for the coronavirus, just as it has for similar viruses in the past.

A study using cells in the laboratory found the vaccine effectively delivers the instructions for the Covid protein, which cells cop thousands of times to produce it in large amounts.

This means a person’s immune system is then primed to recognize the disease and fight it off without them falling ill.

Dr David Matthews, from Bristol’s School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine (CMM), who led the research, said: ‘Until now, the technology hasn’t been able to provide answers with such clarity, but we now know the vaccine is doing everything we expected and that is only good news in our fight against the illness.’

While the world waits for the results of trials on whether the Oxford vaccine actually works, the new findings are the next step forward.