While dozens of research groups around the world are racing to create a vaccine against the COVID-19, the U.K. has announced that they are getting closer to developing one. British scientists from the Imperial College of London said they got positive results from trials on mice and that if everything went well, they could start tests on humans in June.
A vaccinologist, Dr. Helen Petousis-Harris, pointed out that the race to approve a coronavirus vaccine is moving faster than any other in history, as reported by NewsHub. "It's moving faster than any other vaccine we've ever seen before," she said, underscoring that a minimum of 12 months is needed for an effective vaccine.
In addition, a team specialized in epidemics at the University of Queensland's Clinical Research Center in Australia announced that two drugs, originally developed to treat HIV and malaria, can also be used in coronavirus treatment.
In the U.S., the first participant in a clinical trial for a coronavirus vaccine will receive an experimental dose on Monday at a research institute in the state of Washington. Public officials caution, however, that it will still take 12 to 18 months to fully validate any potential vaccine. Scientists are searching for volunteers to take part in the “first coronavirus vaccine trial” on humans, which would pay participants $1,100.
