BANGKOK-Since scientists from the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, gave a COVID-19 vaccine candidate to monkeys on May 23, 2020, the results look promising, as the vaccine generated an immune response in four out of five monkeys that received the first doses.
Dr. Kiat Ruxrungtham, director of Chulalongkorn University’s coronavirus vaccine development team, said the team used a DNA-based vaccine, an mRNA-based vaccine and a protein-based vaccine. Initially, they were tested on mice. The mRNA-based vaccine was administered to monkeys. The team cannot draw any conclusions yet, but the vaccine appeared to stimulate an immune response in most of the monkeys.
The team will have to wait for two weeks before the second doses are administered. If all the monkeys develop an immune response, the trial will be an initial success. The vaccine will then be delivered to the United States and Canada for production. They will produce some 10,000 doses, which will be tested on 5,000 human volunteers. If the results are good, the vaccine can then be mass produced. (NNT)
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