The potential COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford in partnership with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, produced an immune response in subjects from a range of age categories. It also triggered a lower adverse response amongst the elderly, a group at high risk of severe complications from the virus, an AstraZeneca spokesperson said on Monday. (Reuters)

Talking point: Early trial results of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine published in July by medical journal The Lancet showed that it generated positive immune responses without serious side effects in healthy adults aged 18 to 55. This new development suggests that the group that is most vulnerable to COVID-19—the elderly—could also successfully build immunity to the virus. The vaccine candidate is one of over 150 being developed globally, but is widely considered to be a front runner in the race to combat the spread of COVID-19, despite pausing its U.S. trial in September after a participant developed a neurological illness. Earlier this month, Canada launched a real-time data review of this particular candidate, with the goal of ordering 20 million doses if it ends up authorizing it.