Coronavirus Vaccine in the Process

Ryan Fredrick, Reporter

A German company working with US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has begun human trials of a potential Covid-19 vaccine that could supply millions by the end of the year, according to the two firms.

Pfizer says it will begin testing the experimental vaccine in the United States as early as next week, and says a vaccine could be ready for emergency use in the fall, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

“Having a vaccine would change the entire situation,” senior Abby Island said. 

No information on the results is currently available. BioNTech said around 200 healthy volunteers aged 18 to 55 years old would be given doses ranging from 1mg (microgram) to 100mg to find the optimal dose for further studies.

“It seems faster than I perceived,” senior Emmah Brauss said. 

The German Federal Institute for Vaccines and Biomedical Drugs approved the trial — the country’s first clinical trial for a vaccine against Covid 19 — on April 22.

“Getting this out as safely and quickly as possible could … get life going back to normal,” senior Shelby Crim said. 

Pfizer isn’t the only group with a potential Covid-19 vaccine in the works. Last week, scientists at Oxford University’s Jenner Institute in the United Kingdom began testing its vaccine on humans Thursday and, depending on the trial results, could be ready as early as September.