First Volunteers To Receive Potential COVID-19 Vaccine ‘Are In Good Health’ [VIDEO]

The first group of Chinese volunteers who received potential coronavirus vaccinations are said to be healthy after finishing 14 days of quarantine.

Fourteen people returned home yesterday after participating in the first clinical trial for the vaccine candidate in Wuhan. A total of 18 out of the 108 participants have completed their medical observation as of Thursday.

The research team will monitor all the volunteers for another six months and take their blood samples to examine the antibodies.

Scientists have said that they plan to conduct additional trials overseas if the vaccine is proved to be effective and safe.

On March 17, China launched the clinical trials for its first potential coronavirus vaccine, which is developed by Chen Wei, the country’s top military bio-warfare expert, and her team.

A total of 108 healthy adults, aged between 18 and 60, volunteered to receive the vaccinations. They were divided into three groups which were injected with different amounts of the vaccine, Chinese media report.

The candidates have been isolated at the Wuhan Special Service Health Centre to monitor their condition. They will finish the medical observation on different days depending on when they were injected, according to the press.

‘My health has been absolutely fine during this period. I don’t feel sick or painful anywhere,’ a participant told Pear Video as he was leaving the facility yesterday.

‘There was a slight pain in where I was injected for the initial few days.

‘I feel very confident about the vaccine,‘ he added. ‘I believe it will be introduced to the public very soon.’ 

Another volunteer told the press that she has returned to her daily life after ‘everything feels normal.’

‘It felt nothing different from receiving a regular injection, like being bitten by a mosquito,‘ said Jin Guanping to Southern Metropolis daily.

The researchers said they would extend the vaccine tests internationally if the first trial proceeded smoothly.

‘If the initial results prove the vaccine is safe and produces [desired] effects, we will continue to test its effectiveness overseas through international cooperation if the global epidemic continues to spread,’ Chen Wei told the press.

The results of the clinical trial will be published in April, according to China Daily.

The Recombinant Novel Coronavirus Vaccine was successfully developed following more than a month of research, including the study of the vaccines for Ebola.

Chen, also a leading specialist in genetic engineering vaccines in China, developed a medical spray during the SARS outbreak in 2003. The product prevented around 14,000 medical workers from contracting the virus, said another state-media report.

She is also known in the country as the ‘terminator of Ebola’ for leading a team to create a vaccine against the fatal illness.

Speaking of fighting the novel coronavirus, Chen said: ‘The epidemic is like a military situation. The epicentre equals to the battlefield.’

Daily Mail