As the world continues to grapple with the coronavirus or COVID-19, scientists continue their work in the quest to find a cure for the deadly virus. Now, an Israeli research institute, which is overseen by the Defence Ministry plans to start human trials for a potential coronavirus vaccine as early as October, as stated by the Defence Minister Benny Gantz on Thursday.
The Israel Institute of Biological Research (IIBR) is going to begin the trials along with the Health Ministry after a series of Jewish holidays that ends in October, according to Gantz. The IIBR has been working on a potential vaccine for around six months and started the animal trials in March.
COVID-19 Vaccine in Israel
"All the initial experiments that have been successful ... give great hope," Gantz mentioned after visiting the institute located in Ness Ziona, which is around 25 kilometers south of Tel Aviv. The director of IIBR, Shmuel Shapira stated, "There is an excellent vaccine ...We have the product in hand."
The US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman went to the institute's bio-chemical defense lab last month and he was briefed about a coronavirus vaccine prototype for which it is looking forward to preliminary U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Israel has increased in recent times as the country has registered 78,500 cases of the deadly virus and 569 deaths till now. The virus outbreak has created a major stir around the world infecting more than 18.8 million people globally and claiming the lives of over 707,000 people worldwide.
The virus that probably originated from the Chinese city of Wuhan located in the Hubei province is currently spreading like wildfire. More than 100 vaccine candidates are currently under different stages of trials as scientists are working at war-like speed to find a cure for the disease. An effective vaccine is expected to come by this year-end or by the first quarter of 2021, according to experts
