전 세계 코로나19 백신과 개발 속도 내...미국, "올 여름 말까지 코로나19 백신 생산 개시"<br /><br />To fight the global COVID-19 pandemic, countries around the world are now in a RACE to develop a vaccine.<br />While Russia has reportedly finished human trials,... the U.S. expects to produce a potential vaccine by the end of the summer.<br />Some 1-hundred-20 vaccine programs are underway worldwide, including one in South Korea,... which is set to start the next stage of human trials.<br />Arirang's Lee Kyung-eun has the full story.<br />The global race for a COVID-19 vaccine is speeding up.<br />The U.S. is expecting to start producing doses of a potential vaccine by the end of the summer.<br />According to CNBC on Monday, a senior U.S. official said that the manufacturing process is already underway, despite the uncertainty of which potential vaccine, if any, will work.<br />He said that drugmakers have started buying equipment and raw materials,... and securing production sites.<br />The Trump administration has selected four potential vaccines.<br />On the list are biotech company Moderna and pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson.<br />Both are likely to begin the next stage of human trials by the end of the month.<br />The official says that the list could grow.<br />The news comes just a day after Russia said it has successfully completed human trials.<br />In the meantime, around 1-hundred-20 vaccine candidates are under development - including one in the U.K. which has already begun testing on humans.<br />And two vaccine candidates developed by U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German firm BioNTech have been granted FDA fast track designation, which allows swift regulatory approval.<br />Following right up in the race is South Korea.<br />The International Vaccine Institute has partnered with Seoul National University Hospital to start a clinical trial of a vaccine candidate developed by U.S. company INOVIO.<br />They are conducting two phases at once Phase 1 - which tests the safety of a vaccine,...and Phase 2, which looks into its target population.<br />"So we are calling it a 1/2 because start off slow, because it's never been tested in Korea before. The protocol is designed rather than having the separate Phase 1 that has to be reviewed and approved, and the separate Phase 2 that needs to be reviewed and approved. What we did was that we combined them together, that allows us to accelerate the testing…"<br />Despite the tremendous progress, some experts remain uncertain about the effectiveness of a vaccine, with some studies suggesting antibodies against COVID-19 last for only a few months.<br />Lee Kyung-eun, Arirang News.<br />
