China successfully conducts COVID-19 vaccine tests on Monkeys

In a news coming from China, a group of scientists have come forward and claimed that they have successfully tested the vaccine for the deadly COVID-19 that first originated in the country.

The novel coronavirus has become the new normal in the world. While 3/4th of the world stay indoors, distant from their loved ones, and in a hope that there will be an end to the pandemic, scientists and doctors across the globe are striving to find the hope in the form of a vaccine.

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Repeatedly, the governments and the medical professionals have been blunt in regard to the vaccine by saying it would take at least 12-18 months for it to be available for commercial use. However, a group of scientists in China has claimed to have successfully tested the vaccine for the COVID-19 in Monkeys. This is seen as a significant development in a bid to find the cure for the COVID-19.

Monkey trial
Courtesy: Twitter

According to the reports, an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine candidate has been made by the Sinovac Biotech, a Beijing-based company. The vaccine has now been called PiCoVacc. As per the experimental results, it has been deduced that the PiCoVacc can protect the rhesus macaques, a type of monkey in India, from the virus.

The Trial

During the trial, the monkeys that were subjected to the test were first injected with the vaccine. Later, the monkeys were exposed to the Sars-Cov-2 that will cause the COVID-19 after the incubation period of two-three weeks. As per the reports of the trials published in the science magazine, the vaccine reportedly triggered the immune response system in the monkeys that enabled their bodies to produce antibodies to fight against the virus. It is also observed that the vaccine can attack the normal virus too.

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The monkeys that were injected with the PiCoVacc vaccine didn’t show any symptoms of the infection even after a week while the monkeys that were not given the vaccine developed pneumonia kind symptoms. This isn’t the only evidence of a successful vaccine coming out of China. Another vaccine that has been made by the Chinese military institution is being currently tested on humans. Also, Israel and Italy have also claimed success in developing a COVID-19 vaccine.

 

Source: The Times of India