Hong Kong researchers develop vaccine for coronavirus – Report
It is estimated that clinical trials on humans won't begin for about a year.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFFILE PHOTO - Medical staff carry a box as they walk at the Jinyintan hospital, where the patients with pneumonia caused by the new strain of coronavirus are being treated, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China January 10, 2020. Picture taken January 10, 2020(photo credit: REUTERS/STRINGER/FILES)
University of Hong Kong scientists report that they have been able to create a vaccine for the Wuhan coronavirus,Daily Sabah reported on Thursday.The university’s disease expert Yuen Kwok-yung claimed in an interview with the South China Morning Post that while the vaccine has been produced, “it will take a long time to test on animals.”He said that it would take roughly a year until clinical trials could begin on humans.The university's laboratory is one of 12 labs working in China attempting to find a vaccine. Vaccination by nature is preventative, so could not be used to save those already infected.The US is also working to create a vaccine and has urged Chinese authorities to increase their cooperation with international health authorities.US secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar is leading the White House task force charged with monitoring the virus, The Hill reported. Participating in the task force are, among others, national security adviser Robert O'Brien, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Robert Redfield, top National Institutes of Health official Anthony Fauci.China granted American officials and World Health Organization officials permission to travel to China to study the virus.
