On the live coronavirus
The United States is trying to develop a vaccine against the new Chinese coronavirus
Epidemic.
Researchers at the American National Institutes of Health (NIH) have launched the development of a vaccine against the new coronavirus that has appeared in China. Its development should take several months, announced a senior health official on Tuesday. “We have already launched the development of a vaccine at NIH and with collaborators ”, said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, at a press conference in Washington. “We are considering the worst case scenario, in case it becomes a bigger epidemic.” According to the director, it is however not excluded that the epidemic declines even before the vaccine is ready to enter into circulation as during the epidemic of SARS in 2002-2003.
It will take three months to launch a phase 1 trial, then another three months to obtain data, before possibly launching a phase 2 on a larger number of people, explained the doctor. But “We are moving forward as if we should deploy the vaccine”, he assured. Like Secretary of Health Alex Azar at the same press conference, he called on Chinese scientists for more cooperation with American researchers. “It would be really nice if we had more open interactions, not only in terms of public health, but also in the sharing of research data ”, pleaded Anthony Fauci.
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