CLINICAL TRIALS OF A POTENTIAL CORONAVIRUS VACCINE BEGIN IN MELBOURNE
The coronavirus vaccine to be tested on 131 healthy volunteers
The human trials for a potential coronavirus vaccine are about to begin in Australia. More than 100 volunteers have signed up for the trials that will be overseen by a popular US biotechnology firm Novavax. The trials will be conducted in Brisbane and Melbourne on 131 healthy adults aged between 18-59 years.
Dr Paul Griffin, an Infectious Disease Expert who is from Brisbane’s Mater Health Services, is one of the researchers who are responsible for overseeing the phase one of the clinical trials. He shared his views and said, “It is very exciting. Healthy volunteers will receive this vaccine for the first time, and it’s predominantly about safety. So, we will carefully monitor them throughout.”
In addition to safety, the trials will also let researchers know about the effectiveness of the potential coronavirus vaccine that has been developed by Novavax. The results of the trials are expected sometime in July. If everything is alright, the phase two trials will begin that will look at the impact of the vaccine on people who have coronavirus as well as its side effects.
The Research Head for Novavax, Dr Gregory Glenn stated via a Press Conference that the company might start deploying the coronavirus vaccine by year-end if everything goes fine. He said, “We are, in parallel, making doses – making vaccines – in anticipation that we’ll be able to show it’s working and be able to start deploying it by the end of this year.”
The CEO and the President of the company, Stanley C. Erck also talked about how the human trial of the potential coronavirus vaccine is an achievement. He said, “Administering our vaccine in the first participants of this clinical trial is a significant achievement, bringing us one step closer toward addressing the fundamental need for a vaccine in the fight against the global Covid‑19 pandemic.”
Novavax isn’t the only company that has begun the trials of potential coronavirus vaccine. Two other companies, BioNTech and Moderna, have also begun the clinical trials as well. No one can speculate which company will succeed in creating a coronavirus vaccine that might help end the pandemic that has impacted billions of people across the globe. We can only hope for the best!
