Amongst all the bad news around the globe when it comes to the Covid-19 virus, including country lockdowns, border closings, quarantine, increased cases, and more; there does seem to be a glimmer of hope that there is a light at the end of this pandemic tunnel. The first testing trial around a coronavirus vaccine has recently unraveled, with four patients receiving the shot at Seattle Washington’s Kaiser Permanente research facility.
It’s important to note that the shot does not cause coronavirus, rather it has a harmless genetic code that’s been copied from the illness that creates Covid-19.
Medical experts have said that it’ll take many more months to know if this shot, or others that are still being researched, can work to help with the preventing the condition.
BBC reported that the first person to get the vaccine, which occurred on Monday March 16th, was a mother of two, 43 years of age, from Seattle. She noted that the experience was an “amazing opportunity” for her to do something around the pandemic.
Scientists across the world are trying their best to help fast-track research, as this human trial, which the National Institutes of Health have funded, will side-step a check that is generally conducted: ensuring the shot can set off an immune response in animals.
With that said, Moderna Therapeutics, a biotechnology company behind the work around the vaccine has stated that the shot has been made via tried and tested procedures.
It is said that the vaccine has used pre-existing technology; made at quite a high standard, using things that are known to be safe for people, and individuals taking part in this trial test will be closely monitored.
Generally, shots for viruses like the measles are created from a killed or weakened virus; however, the mRNA-1273, the shot for Covid-19, has not been developed behind what is causing the coronavirus. Rather, it uses short segments of a genetic code that has been copied from the illness; something researchers have been able to develop in a lab. Scientists are hoping that the shot will prime an individual’s immune system to fight off the real virus, and with the spread of Covid-19 being so rapid, this vaccine might be what the worlds needs to help truly fight off the illness.
Volunteers are given different amounts of this experimental Covid-19 vaccine, where they will receive two shots in total, 28 days apart. Location of the shot is the upper arm.
It’s important to note that even if these first tests offer positive results, it may take close to 18 months before any possible Covid-19 vaccine is made public.
The best line of defense against the coronavirus right now is still regular handwashing (or using hand sanitizer), coughing on your shoulder or sneezing into a tissue, and social distancing.
