Hong Kong researchers have reportedly developed a vaccine for the novel Coronavirus, which has killed 132 people and infected nearly 6,000.
Yuen Kwok-Yung, am expert on infectious diseases and professor at Hong Kong University (HKU), told South China Morning Post that his team was working on the vaccine.“We have already produced the vaccine, but it will take a long time to test on animals,” Kwok-Yung said, without giving a specific time frame on when it would be ready for patients.
HKU researchers based the virus on an influenza vaccine, which was previously invented by Kwok-Yung's team. They modified the same vaccine with a part of the surface antigen of the Coronavirus. This means that the vaccine can potentially prevent influenza and Coronavirus
The vaccine is yet to be deemed fit for human use, which can be proved only after conducting clinical trials. Kwok-Yung stated that it would take months to test the vaccine on animals and at least a year to conduct clinical trials on humans.
Kwok-Yung explained that the animal would be exposed to the virus after injecting the vaccine. “If the vaccine appears effective and safe in a number of animal species, it will go into clinical trials on humans. This takes at least one year even if expedited,” Yuen said.
He also expressed doubts on certain media reports that quoted Chinese infectious diseases expert Li Lanjuan saying the anti-Coronavirus vaccine could be made in a month’s time.
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