The first clinical trial to test a vaccine for the coronavirus is due to begin today according to a US government official.
Per The Metro, the first human participant is due to receive an experimental dose of the vaccine, which researchers can test for potential side effects.
Watch this video on how you can spot the early symptoms of the coronavirus:The trial is funded by the National Institutes of Health at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle. According to public health officials, it could take over a year before any potential vaccines are declared safe for widespread use.
A total of 45 healthy volunteers will be administered a number of doses developed by NIH and Moderna Inc. Meanwhile, Inovio Pharmaceuticals is due to begin safety tests for their own vaccine candidate next month.
From a testing center in Kansas City, Missouri, a number of volunteers from the University of Pennsylvania have agreed to participate in the study.
Take a look at this official advice on whether you should self-isolate or not:A report from the World Health Organization has now declared that the COVID-19 is a pandemic, writing in a statement:
"WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction. We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic."
The statement continued: "Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death."
At the time of writing, there have now been more than 171,115 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across 114 countries worldwide, and a total of 6,526 deaths.
