US is one of the most Coronavirus affected countries with 3,774 infection cases registered so far and the vaccine which is expected to provide protection against COVID-19 is going for clinical trials on Monday in Seattle.
The first participant in the Coronavirus vaccine trial program will receive an experimental dose, said a government official. This trial program is funded by the National Institutes of Health and the venue is the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle.
Coronavirus vaccine
The trial will include 45 young, healthy volunteers who will receive different doses of shots of the vaccine which was co-developed by NIH and Moderna Inc. The aim behind this trial is to check whether the vaccine would show any worrisome side effects which would widen a path for larger tests.
Scientists from all around the world are racing to create a vaccine to defeat COVID-19, while some researchers have created temporary vaccines -- shots that might protect people's health a month or two at the time while scientists are working on developing a longer-lasting remedy. But as per a report by the Associated Press, US public health officials expect that it would take a year to 18 months to validate any potential vaccine against the new strain of Coronavirus.
A US-based company, Inovio Pharmaceuticals aim to begin safety tests for its vaccine candidate in April which will include a few dozen volunteers at the University of Pennsylvania as well as a testing centre in Kansas City, Missouri. Dr Anthony Fauci, director of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases explained that if the initial safety test goes well, "you're talking about a year to a year and a half" before a vaccine could go for commercialization.
Coronavirus cure?
It should be noted that at this point of time there is no proven cure or treatment process for the new Coronavirus in China, where the pandemic emerged. To fight against the deadly Coronavirus, which has killed over 6,500 people all around the world, many researchers have been testing a combination of HIV drugs and an experimental drug named remdesivir, which was under development for work against Ebola.
In the US, researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center started testing remdesivir in some Americans who were found to have been infected by Novel Coronavirus after being evacuated from a cruise ship in Japan. However, if this Seattle trial goes successful, then there will be a hope to find a proper vaccine for the Novel Coronavirus.
Israel is working to develop a vaccine
In February, it was revealed that the Institute for Biological Research (IBR) in Nes Tsiona, a subsidiary of the Galilee Research Institute (MIGAL), is in the final process of developing the COVID-19 vaccine, using their expertise in the past to develop a vaccine against avian Coronavirus Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV).
But, the country's Defence Ministry stated: "There has been no breakthrough in the efforts of the biological institute to find a vaccine for the Coronavirus or to develop testing kits. The institute's work is conducted according to an orderly work plan and it will take time. If and when there will be something to report, it will be done in an orderly fashion."
