China Conducts First Successful Test of Coronavirus Vaccine in Monkeys
Rumita Patel
While the government and scientists around the world are trying to develop an effective vaccine against the deadly coronavirus, which has claimed thousands of lives, Chinese scientists have claimed that they have successfully tested the country’s first vaccine against COVID 19 in monkeys , which is a significant development in the race to find a cure for the COVID 19 virus.
PiCoVacc, an inactivated COVID 19 vaccine made by Beijing-based Sinovac Biotech, has reportedly shown promising results as the experimental vaccine could help protect rhesus macaques, a type of monkey native to India, from the virus. .
The proof
To perform the trial, the researchers injected the vaccine into the monkeys who were then exposed to SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID 19 three weeks later. The report published in the scientific journal stated that the vaccine activated the immune response to produce antibodies against the new coronavirus. It was observed that these antibodies can also attack the normal virus.
The researchers also found that the monkeys who received a dose of PiCoVacc did not have the virus in their lungs after a week. While monkeys that did not receive the vaccine developed severe pneumonia.
Various reports say China has been testing vaccines in humans since mid-April. There is another vaccine made by the Chinese military institution, which is currently being tested in humans. In addition, meanwhile, Israel and Italy claimed to be successful in developing COVID 19 vaccines.
However, scientists may have a hard time recruiting for testing in the near future, as the number of COVID 19 patients remaining in China is only hundreds. A similar situation led to the development of the SARS vaccine in 2003.
