Video: Experience of the first person in the world to be tested on Covid-19 vaccine

So the first person in the world to have been vaccinated against Covid-19, even though it was just a test vaccine. Scientists at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Research Institute in Seattle last night injected a needle into the biceps of Jennifer Haller, a 43-year-old woman who works as a manager at a small technology company in the US.

The needle will inject into Haller a vaccine, code-named mRNA-1273, developed by biotechnology company Moderna in cooperation with the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). The new vaccine marked a record time in which scientists developed a vaccine against an entirely new infectious disease.

The first person in the world had a vaccine test against Covid-19

Normally, in previous diseases, it took scientists several months to years to release the first batch of experimental vaccines.

But to shorten that time, Moderna has adopted a relatively new genetic method, which requires no virus culture and isolation, a very time-consuming task because it requires a lot of very strict safety procedures. .

Instead, the vaccine is made directly out of mRNAs, a genetic material chain that makes proteins. Moderna took a look at the SARS-CoV-2 virus genome, which was decoded by Chinese scientists in January. They then loaded their vaccines with mRNAs encoding the virus's protein.

The vaccine is administered as an injection, and after entering the body, the immune cells in the lymph node can process its mRNA sequence and begin to make proteins that help other immune cells identify. SARS-CoV-2 virus.

That's the goal of all vaccines, just by recognizing the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the immune cells will hunt down and kill the virus once it infects the vaccinated person.

The Covid-19 pandemic, which broke out in China in mid-December last year, has now spread to more than 100 countries around the world, infecting more than 174,000 and killing more than 7,000 of them.

" We all feel hopeless. This is a great opportunity for me to do something," Haller said of her feelings after becoming the first volunteer in the world to test the vaccine. -xin Covid-19.

In addition to Haller, this trial run by NIH and Moderna also injected the mRNA-1273 vaccine on three other volunteers.

These tests are performed to monitor the complications and potential side effects (if any) of the vaccine. In case they are not so serious, scientists will continue to test the vaccine on more than 40 volunteers.

Each person will receive two doses of mRNA-1273, one month apart. And because this is just a safety test, no volunteers were exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but their health is still carefully monitored by scientists.

Dr Lisa Jackson, lead researcher at Kaiser Permanente, said: "We do not know whether this vaccine will produce an immune response or whether it is safe or not. That's why we need it. do an experiment ".

The highest risk among these volunteers belongs to the last, the healthiest volunteers who will receive the strongest dose of vaccine. The scientists will also monitor them, and take blood samples to check if the new vaccine boosts the immune system for people who are injected.

Previously, animal testing has shown that the mRNA-1273 vaccine is effective against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

It must also be said that this safety trial is only the first step in phase I of clinical trials to monitor the possible side effects of potential vaccines. After the safety test showed good results, the effectiveness test of the new vaccine was conducted on small groups.

The next phase of efficacy testing usually targets vaccinations of several hundred to a few thousand healthy volunteers in an epidemic area, where there is a high prevalence of pathogens to see if the vaccine can protect. many percent of them.

If the results of this test are good, the new manufacturer may apply for a license to deliver their vaccine to the market. Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, an NIH unit, said:

" Even if these initial safety tests go well, you still need a year to a year and a half before any vaccine can be ready for widespread use ."

Back at Haller, the first volunteer received the Covid-19 vaccine. She is now a mother with two children. Haller said his children find their mother taking part in a vaccine test just like signing up for an interesting game show.

After the injection, Haller left the room with a smile: " I feel wonderful, " she shared.

References Latimes, Nypost