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Potential US COVID-19 Vaccines Enter Final Phase of Human Testing

VOA News

   Widescaletesting began Mondayin the United Stateson two potential
   COVID-19 vaccines to determine their safety and effectiveness.

   A volunteer in Savannah, Georgia early Monday morning received the
   first dose of an experimental vaccine manufacturedby U.S.-based biotech
   firm Moderna and developed by researchers at the National Institute of
   Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The volunteer is the first of 30,000
   healthy people around the country who will receive two doses of the
   vaccine over the next several weeks in a late-stage phase of the study
   to see whether people get infected or sick from COVID-19.

   An earlier phase of the study discovered that while none of the
   volunteers experienced a serious side effect from the new vaccine, more
   than half reported mild or moderate reactions such as fatigue,
   headaches, chills, muscle aches and pain at the injection site.

   Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and
   Infectious Diseases, told reporters Monday that the first results of
   the late-stage trial of the vaccine may be known by as early as
   November. If the trial is successful, Moderna will produce 500 million
   doses a year, with the hopes of making 1 billion doses annually
   beginning in 2021.

   Development of the Moderna/NIAI vaccine is part of President Donald
   Trump's Operation Warp Speed initiative, which is aimed at delivering
   300 million doses of an approved vaccine by January. Moderna has
   received nearly $1 billion in funding from the program, including $472
   million committed just on Sunday to support the late-stage testing
   phase.

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