US govt official: Coronavirus vaccine trial starts Monday

A clinical trial evaluating a vaccine designed to protect against new Coronavirus will begin Monday, according to a government official.

first participant in trial will receive experimental vaccine on Monday, official said, speaking on condition of anymity because trial has t been publicly anunced yet.

National Institutes of Health is funding trial, which is taking place at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle, official said.

Public health officials say it will take a year to 18 months to fully validate any potential vaccine.

Testing will begin with 45 young, healthy volunteers with different doses of shots co-developed by NIH and Moderna Inc. re's chance participants could get infected from shots, because y don't contain virus itself. goal is purely to check that vaccines show worrisome side effects, setting st for larger tests.

Dozens of research groups around world are racing to create a vaccine as COVID-19 cases continue to grow. Importantly, y're pursuing different s of vaccines — shots developed from new techlogies that t only are faster to produce than tritional iculations but might prove more potent.

Some researchers even aim for temporary vaccines, such as shots that might guard people's health a month or two at a time while longer-lasting protection is developed.

For most people, new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older ults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

worldwide outbreak has sickened more than 156,000 people and left more than 5,800 de. death toll in United States is more than 50, while infections neared 3,000 across 49 states and District of Columbia.

vast majority of people recover.

According to World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three weeks to six weeks to recover. (AP) IJT