After China started human trials of its sixth experimental coronavirus vaccine, volunteers began receiving doses of a potential new coronavirus vaccine in the UK.
At least 300 people will be administered the vaccine at the Imperial College in London. Oxford University has already started human trials.
According to reports, the vaccine uses synthetic strands of genetic code, called RNA to mirror the virus while training the immune system to identify and fight the virus without developing coronavirus.
Another trial of the vaccine is set for October with the product set for distribution in the UK and abroad in early next year.
Meanwhile, the Federal University of Sao Paulo in Brazil said that researchers had begun administering the vaccine developed by Oxford University to volunteers. The vaccine has been developed with pharmaceuticals group AstraZeneca known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19.
The vaccine was administered to high-risk individuals who are likely to come into contact with coronavirus patients namely doctors and nurses. The vaccine is set to be administered to at least 2,000 volunteers in Brazil.
Brazil’s acting health minister, Eduardo Pazuello, said the country wants to sign a contract for domestic production of the vaccine. Brazil has the second-largest COVID-19 cases after the United States which has 1.3 million infected cases and 1,20,000 deaths.
Amid the race to develop the vaccine, South Africa declared it will also begin trial of coronavirus vaccine this week. The University of Witwatersrand is collaborating with the University of Oxford and the Oxford Jenner Institute on the South African trial.
“As we enter winter in South Africa and pressure increases on public hospitals, now more than ever we need a vaccine to prevent infection by COVID-19,” University of Witwatersrand (Wits) vaccinology professor Shabir Madhi said.