First human trial of COVID-19 vaccine finds it is safe and induces rapid immune response

‘These results represent an important milestone. The trial demonstrates that a single dose of the new adenovirus type 5 vectored COVID-19 (Ad5-nCoV) vaccine produces virus-specific antibodies and T cells in 14 days, making it a potential candidate for further investigation,’ says Professor Wei Chen from the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology in Beijing, China, who is responsible for the study. ‘However, these results should be interpreted cautiously. The challenges in the development of a COVD-19 vaccine are unprecedented, and the ability to trigger these immune responses does not necessarily indicate that the vaccine will protect humans from COVID-19. This result shows a promising vision for the development of COVID-19 vaccines, but we are still a long way from this vaccine being available to all.’

Read here (Science Daily, May 22, 2020)

This is the original report in The Lancet. Read here (The Lancet, May 22, 2020)