Coronavirus vaccine to enter human trial phase

With rapidly increasing numbers of the Coronavirus outbreak, scientists and researchers have been toiling hard to find a cure to treat the viral strain, officially named, COVID-19.

Till date, more than 80,000 people with the virus now spread to countries like South Korea, Italy, Japan, parts of Latin America, the Middle East and rising cases reported out of China every passing day. Three confirmed cases were found in India as well.

In recent positive development, scientists have now claimed to have found a workable vaccine, which could potentially help combat and prevent coronavirus infection spread.

According to reports, a biotech company called Moderna has successfully developed a vaccine which is all set to enter the human trial phase. If greenlighted, human trials could begin as early as April 2020. The first such vaccine has been named mRNA-1273.

The vaccine, in the first phase, has been provided to the National Institue of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, America. It consists of twin doses which are to be given to an adult patient to guard against infection. If the human trial phase proves to be



successful, we can have the first vaccine available to the world around July this year, which is a promising breakthrough.

The first phase of trial would involve researchers testing the drug on a small group of healthy humans to see if the drug produces an immune response which could go on to protect the body against viral infections. In the start, a total of 45 volunteers will be getting the vaccine dose. Reports suggest that the biotech company developed the vaccine 42 days after the genetic information available on COVID-19 was made public.

Researchers are also studying whether the vaccine can harm or interact with other medications which people might be taking. The repercussions and affectability have still not been studied properly and will need a while to happen. Vaccine trials, testing and approval can take up to a year.

Apart from this, clinical testing is also happening in many other places across the globe. A vaccine, still in the development phase at the University of Queensland and one developed by an Indian scientist based out of Australia have found promising results, bringing the world closer to a potential cure.