GetHealthAccess.com | Nardz Antonio | Breaking News: The First Coronavirus Vaccine has been tested to a female patient in Seattle.
The new phase 1 clinical trial of the possible vaccine for the SARS-CoV2 coronavirus has been tested on Monday in Seattle, the first person to enroll in the trial has received the vaccine.
The vaccine known as “mRNA-1273,” was developed by Moderna, a biotechnology company, along with the help of the researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The trial is still being conducted at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle.
The phase 1 testing was aimed to test three different doses of the “mRNA-1273” vaccine with the hopes to recruit 45 healthy adults for the initial trial. The participants are said to receive two shots of the vaccine, with 28 days apart and will be monitored to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine.
The first person known to get the vaccine was a 43-year old woman named Jennifer Haller from Seattle who stated; “I hope that we get to a working vaccine quickly and that we can save lives and people can go back to life as soon as possible,” according to her interview with TIME.
“This study is the first step in the clinical development of an mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, and we expect it to provide important information about safety and immunogenicity,” according to Tal Zaks, M.D, Ph.D. He also added that Moderna was already working with the FDA and other organizations to prepare for a phase 2 trial, which would’ve involved larger numbers of patients.
The beginning of the trial comes just 65 days after the Chinese authorities had sequenced the SARS-CoV2 coronavirus. Two days later, the researchers at the Vaccine Research Center at the NIH had already finalized the design of the vaccine and began to manufacture it, finishing the first batch on February 7th. On February 24th after analytical testing, then the company had shipped it to the NIH.
“When finding a safe and effective vaccine to prevent infection with SARS-CoV-2 is an urgent public health priority,” said Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, at the NIH. “This Phase 1 study, launched at record speed, is an important first step toward achieving that goal,” he added.
The mRNA-1273 vaccine does not contain the virus as is the case with other vaccines. Instead it’s filled with small pieces of genetic code known as the mRNA. The mRNA encodes the viral “Spike” protein which is necessary for the coronavirus to gain access to human cells.
Kizzmekia Corbett, Ph.D., of NIAID’s Vaccine Research Center shared her efforts to develop a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, that causes COVID-19 according to an interview conducted Jan. 28, 2020. Credit NIH/NIAID
The mRNA-1723 vaccine was not tested in mice before beginning human clinical trials, a very rare occurrence which was proved to be quite controversial. Some experts are insisting that the severity and urgent need of the current situation means that this is justified, whereas many are concerned this could mean breaking a few ethical and safety standards and may even put trial participants at greater risk than normal.
Although the design and production of the prospective vaccine was quite fast, the evaluation of it will take some time. Since all of the said participants will be monitored for the 12 months after the second vaccination has been done, to further collect data researchers need initially to figure out whether it is safe and effective.
The study is still on-going with healthy people aged 18-55 in the Seattle area to help test the new vaccine.
