Trial on Coronavirus Vaccine Starts Monday: Govt Official

Clinical trial, funded by the national institues of health, is evaluating a vaccine designed to protect from the new coronavirus. It will begin Monday, according to a government official.

The trial is taking place at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle, the official said.

‘Even if initial safety tests go well, it may take a year to a year and a half before any vaccine could be ready for widespread use.’

The trial will start with 45 young, healthy volunteers with different doses of vaccines. Chance of getting infected from the shots is almost nil, as they don't contain the virus itself. The goal is purely to check that the vaccines show no adverse effects.

Many researchers are trying to develop the vaccine. Some aim for temporary vaccines like shots that might protect people's health a month or two at a time while longer-lasting protection is developed.

Coronavirus may just cause mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough in most of the patients. For older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

The worldwide outbreak has sickened more than 156,000 people and left more than 5,800 dead. The death toll in the United States is more than 50, while infections neared 3,000 across 49 states and the District of Columbia.

Scientists have been testing a combination of HIV drugs against the new coronavirus, as well as an experimental drug named remdesivir that was in development to fight Ebola.

In the U.S., the University of Nebraska Medical Center also began testing remdesivir in some Americans who were found to have COVID-19 after being evacuated from a cruise ship in Japan.

Most of the affected people will recover. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three weeks to six weeks to recover.



Source: Medindia