COVID-19 vaccine successfully protects macaques against virus

ISLAMABAD, August 6 (online): A new study has found that a COVID-19 vaccine candidate is highly effective in protecting rhesus macaque monkeys from the disease.

Developing a safe and effective vaccine is central to stopping the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19.

While emergency measures that authorities put in place to promote physical distancing and protect those most at risk have been important in slowing the spread of the virus, given its virulence, the resulting reduction in transmission rates is likely to be temporary.

The continued spikes in novel coronavirus infections throughout the world, many months after the first implementation of emergency measures, seem to confirm this.

Researchers are developing the new vaccine in collaboration with the pharmaceutical corporation Johnson & Johnson.

The team has tested the vaccine on 52 rhesus macaque monkeys to ascertain its potential.

The vaccine uses a common cold virus to transport SARS-CoV-2 proteins into the host cells, where they stimulate an immune response.

The researchers gave 32 of the monkeys a single shot of one of seven initial variations of the vaccine. These included the variation that they had identified as the optimal candidate: Ad26.COV2.S.