US volunteers test first vaccine against COVID-19

KUALA LUMPUR (March 17): It has been reported today that the first human trial of a vaccine to combat COVID-19 has started in the US.

According to reports by the BBC and Associated Press (AP), four patients at the Kaiser Permanente research facility in Seattle, Washington, have received injections of the vaccine.

The reports stated that the “vaccine cannot cause COVID-19 but contains a harmless genetic code copied from the virus that causes the disease”.

Experts said it will take many months to determine if the vaccine, “or others also in research” can actually be effective but it is still considered fast compared with the past.

"This vaccine uses pre-existing technology.

"It's been made to a very high standard, using things that we know are safe to use in people and those taking part in the trial will be very closely monitored,” Dr John Tregoning, an expert in infectious diseases at Imperial College London, UK, told AP.

"Yes, this is very fast - but it is a race against the virus, not against each other as scientists, and it's being done for the benefit of humanity."

In Malaysia, it has been announced that there have been two COVID-19 deaths and 120 new cases, with a current total of 673 confirmed cases.