COVID-19 vaccine is in human trial phase

Research groups across the globe are targetting a potential vaccine that will prove to be a powerful shield against COVID-19. The scientists at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Research Institute in Seattle began an anxiously awaited first-stage study of a potential COVID-19 vaccine developed in record time after the new virus that erupted from China.

Seattle: US researchers lead the way as they gave the first shot to the first person in a test of an experimental coronavirus vaccine on Monday leading off a worldwide hunt for protection even as the pandemic surges.

With a careful jab in a healthy volunteer's arm, scientists at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Research Institute in Seattle began an anxiously awaited first-stage study of a potential COVID-19 vaccine developed in record time after the new virus that erupted from China and fanned across the globe.

According to the study report, an operations manager at a small tech company, received the injection inside an exam room. Three others were next in line for a test that will ultimately give 45 volunteers two doses, a month apart.

"Everybody is feeling so helpless right now. And I realized that there was something that I could do to help, and I'm excited to be here," Jennifer Haller, 43, of Seattle, said after the received the shot.

She's the mother of two teenagers and "they think it's cool" that she's taking part in the study.

After the injection, she left the exam room with a big smile: "I'm feeling great."

Haller was the first person to receive a shot of a potential vaccine for COVID-19

Monday's milestone marked just the beginning of a series of studies in people needed to prove whether the shots are safe and could work. Even if the research goes well, a vaccine wouldn't be available for widespread use for 12 to 18 months, said Dr. Anthony Fauci of the US National Institutes of Health.

"Still, finding a vaccine is an urgent public health priority," Fauci said in a statement Monday. The new study, launched in record speed, is an important first step toward achieving that goal.

This vaccine candidate, code-named mRNA-1273, was developed by the NIH and Massachusetts-based biotechnology company Moderna Inc. There are no chance participants could get infected from the shots because they don't contain the coronavirus itself.

It's not the only potential vaccine in the pipeline. Dozens of research groups around the world are racing to create a vaccine against COVID-19. Another candidate, made by Inovio Pharmaceuticals, is expected to begin its safety study in the US, China and South Korea next month.

Jennifer Haller gets a kiss from her adopted foster dog

The Seattle research institute is part of a government network of centers that test all kinds of vaccines and was chosen for the coronavirus vaccine study before COVID-19 began spreading widely in Washington state.

Some of the study's carefully chosen healthy volunteers, ages 18 to 55, will get higher dosages than others to test how strong the inoculations should be. Scientists will check for any side effects and draw blood samples to test if the vaccine is revving up the immune system, looking for encouraging clues like the NIH earlier found in vaccinated mice.

Kaiser Permanente screened dozens of people, looking for those who have no chronic health problems and aren't currently sick. Participants will be paid $100 for each clinic visit in the study.

(With inputs from AP)