The first volunteer was injected today with an initial dose of an experimental vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 called mRNA-1273 at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle, Washington. The vaccine candidate was developed by Moderna, a Massachusetts-based biotechnology company.
More volunteers would follow—for this vaccine candidate and trials for others as the world raced to develop vaccines against this novel virus.
“Finding a safe and effective vaccine to prevent infection with SARS-CoV-2 is an urgent public health priority,” said National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr Anthony Fauci as the first injection was administered. “This Phase I study, launched in record speed, is an important first step toward achieving that goal.”