U.S. researchers have given a healthy volunteer the first shot of an experimental coronavirus vaccine as anxiously awaited testing opens.
Monday’s milestone is just the first step in a long process.
The effort is one of several worldwide hunting for protection against COVID-19, even as the pandemic grows.
The study is run by scientists at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Research Institute in Seattle.
The shots were developed by the National Institutes of Health in record time after the new coronavirus exploded from China.
Experts say it will be at least a year before any vaccine is ready for widespread use.
Meanwhile, the head of the World Health Organization says social distancing and other measures to limit contact between people can help fight the spread of the coronavirus, but testing people who might have the disease is its No. 1 priority.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the COVID-19 outbreak is the “defining global health crisis of our time” and will “be a test of our resolve.”
“We have not seen an urgent enough escalation in testing, isolation and contact tracing, which is the backbone of the response” to determine who is sick, he said.
“You cannot fight a fire blindfolded and we cannot stop this pandemic if we don’t know who is infected," he said. “We have a simple message for all countries: test, test, test.”
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