BANGKOK, May 26 (NNN-TNA) – Thai COVID-19 vaccine research team said, it will be recruiting human beings for vaccine trials later this year, following an ongoing three-month test on monkeys.
“We injected the vaccine into 13 long-tailed macaques on Saturday. The animal testing will take three months and results are expected by the end of Aug,” said Dr. Kiat Rakrungtham, director of the Chulalongkorn University’s Vaccine Research and Development Centre.
“So by Aug, if the trial on the monkeys is successful, our team will use the best viable antibodies from these monkeys, to produce doses of vaccine for human trials,” said Kiat, “We are looking into recruiting volunteers and each will receive two injections each.”
The Thai team in researching the mRNA vaccine, comprised of the Thai National Vaccine Institute, Chulalongkorn University’s Vaccine Research and Development Centre and the University’s Department of Medical Sciences, and some private sectors.
“A factory in Canada will be contracted to produce the vaccine for the human trial, which is planned for Oct,” said Kiat.
Before the vaccine is administered to all participants, it will be first tested on 30 to 50 volunteers, to determine its safety, he said.
“If it passes, the vaccine will be administered to more than 250 people, to test its ability to activate the immune system,” said Kiat, “After that, the vaccine will be given to the remaining volunteers to test its efficacy in preventing COVID-19.”
