“We were privileged and lucky enough that we could do something.”
Three women who were involved in the development of the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid vaccine have told the BBC about the challenges they so vividly remember.
Parvinder Aley, Sagida Bibi and Hannah Robinson, from the Oxford Vaccine Group (OVG), spent up to 18 hours a day, seven days a week working on the clinical trials in 2020.
“Sometimes I couldn’t go home for a week,” said Dr Bibi, who was tasked with collecting blood samples from 12,000 participants while remaining a safe distance apart.
Ms Robinson, who moved into a camper van in the clinic car park during the trials, said: “It was literally all hands on deck, thinking ‘just do what you have to do to get the vaccine licensed’.”
Scientists at the OVG had developed a vaccine prior to March 2020 but had to rapidly speed up the testing and production schedule from years of trials, to just months.
Dr Aley, who facilitates research on the development and implementation of vaccines, knew that the group had a serious task ahead when lockdown was announced.
She recalls being told: “This is not about glory, it’s about delivering.”
Measures like wearing masks and washing hands helped to slow the spread of the virus.
However, Dr Aley said: “To get us out of the situation we were going to need to get a vaccine.
“That responsibility felt huge but also we know how to do that.”
OVG had the expertise needed to test the vaccine but faced a difficult task – carrying out a clinical trial with more than 12,000 participants while complying with strict social distancing measures.
Ms Robinson explained that the trial was mapped out in February 2020.
She said: “I was trying to work out how we could see a hundred people a day for a trial.
“It was very quickly clear that it would be huge. In a matter of weeks it had grown from hundreds to thousands.”
Her role was demanding, so Ms Robinson made the decision to live out of a camper van on the premises.
“Eighteen hour days wouldn’t be unusual,” she said.
“It was seven days a week for sure.”
Despite this, Ms Robinson fondly reflects on the atmosphere.
“It was a good mood. People were tired but positive,” she said.
The team received many donations and gifts.
They had little free time to do everyday activities like food shopping so key workers brought them food.
So much food that a second fridge was purchased to store it all.