COVID-19 vaccine to rely on human trails

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The researchers in dozen of labs around the world have been working on the development of a vaccine for COVID-19. They will have to rely on volunteers to participate in trials at multiple points during the process of vaccine development.

Kris Armradit, the daughter of one of (China Global Television Network) CGTN's producers, has participated in three clinical trials run by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), one for an HIV monoclonal antibody treatment and two for a malaria vaccine. 

As is common in the US, she was reportedly paid for participating, about 5,000 dollars over four months for one of the malaria studies where she contracted the disease. 

"You get bitten by mosquitoes and you get infected with malaria and then you stay in the hospital to see if you get malaria then to cure you afterwards,” Armradit was quoted as saying. 

“I spent most of a week in a hospital with fever and chills. It's a lot to go through it was worth it. I felt a little bit of a desire to help and do some good because this was helping make medicine that would save lives," she added. 

Armradit stated that if there’s an opportunity to volunteer for COVID-19 trials she won't hesitate to participate.

"Whatever they're doing, they're helping to save lives. The sooner we have a vaccine the sooner life goes back to normal, the sooner we can save millions of lives worldwide." 

Public health officials in the US believe that it might take at least a year before a vaccine was developed and put into widespread use. 

"We can't rely on a vaccine over the next several months to a year. However, if this virus, which we have every reason to believe it’s quite conceivable that it will happen, will go beyond just a season and come back and recycle next year, if that's the case, we hope to have a vaccine," Dr Anthony Fauci had famously said.