Скачать или смотреть AP Exclusive: Testing COVID-19 vaccine in people

(16 Mar 2020) U.S. researchers gave the first shot to the first person in a test of an experimental coronavirus vaccine Monday -- leading off a worldwide hunt for protection even as the pandemic surges.
With a careful jab in a healthy volunteer's arm, scientists at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Research Institute in Seattle begin an anxiously awaited first-stage study of a potential COVID-19 vaccine developed in record time after the new virus exploded from China and fanned across the globe.  
The Associated Press observed as the study's first participant, an operations manager at a small tech company, received the injection inside an exam room. Three others were next in line for a test that will ultimately give 45 volunteers two doses, a month apart.
"Everybody is feeling so helpless right now. And I realized that there was something that I could do to help, and I'm excited to be here," Jennifer Haller, 43, of Seattle said after the received the shot.
She's the mother of two teenagers and "they think it's cool" that she's taking part in the study.
After the injection, she left the exam room with a big smile: "I'm feeling great."
Monday's milestone marked just the beginning of a series of studies in people needed to prove whether the shots are safe and could work. Even if the research goes well, a vaccine wouldn't be available for widespread use for 12 to 18 months, said Dr. Anthony Fauci of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Still, finding a vaccine "is an urgent public health priority," Fauci said in a statement Monday. The new study, "launched in record speed, is an important first step toward achieving that goal."
This vaccine candidate, code-named mRNA-1273, was developed by the NIH and Massachusetts-based biotechnology company Moderna Inc. There's no chance participants could get infected from the shots because they don't contain the coronavirus itself.  
It's not the only potential vaccine in the pipeline. Dozens of research groups around the world are racing to create a vaccine against COVID-19. Another candidate, made by Inovio Pharmaceuticals, is expected to begin its own safety study -- in the U.S., China and South Korea -- next month.
The Seattle research institute is part of a government network of centers that test all kinds of vaccines, and was chosen for the coronavirus vaccine study before COVID-19 began spreading widely in Washington state.
Some of the study's carefully chosen healthy volunteers, ages 18 to 55, will get higher dosages than others to test how strong the inoculations should be. Scientists will check for any side effects and draw blood samples to test if the vaccine is revving up the immune system, looking for encouraging clues like the NIH earlier found in vaccinated mice.
Kaiser Permanente screened dozens of people, looking for those who have no chronic health problems and aren't currently sick. Participants will be paid $100 for each clinic visit in the study.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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