Thai Latest – Human Trials of Homegrown Coronavirus Vaccine

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA  – Thailand says it may be ready to begin human trials of a homegrown coronavirus vaccine by October, following promising results with mice and monkeys.

“We anticipate that ideally it’s October, or within Q4 of this year,” said Kiat Ruxrungtham, head of the vaccine research center at Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University leading the trials.

If all goes well, he added, mass production could start by the third or fourth quarter of next year.

Scientists across the globe are scrambling to develop a vaccine that can beat back the COVID-19 virus, hoping to whittle a process that typically takes years down to months. About 180 vaccines are in development. More than 20 of them have already gone on to human trials, with some countries aiming to have a vaccine approved by the end of this year.

Most frontrunners are in richer countries, mainly in the West, leaving the less well-off worried they’ll be pushed to voathe back of the line when a vaccine is finally rolled out.

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