Pfizer Starts Human Testing Trial of Potential Virus Vaccine

Human trials of a possible coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and the German company BioNTech are underway.

Pfizer and BioNTech announced Tuesday the human trials of the potential coronavirus vaccine started the first phase, The Hill reports. 

The initial stage of the trial will involve 360 people. It will test dosage levels and overall safety of the vaccine. 

The companies are testing four vaccine candidates at the same time. They are all different versions of a mRNA vaccine. 

In testing all four, it will allow scientists to move faster by seeing which option is the most effective, they said. 

“We are optimistic that advancing multiple vaccine candidates into human trials will allow us to identify the safest, most effective vaccination options against COVID-19,” BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin said in a statement. 

The companies are already preparing to increase production of the potential vaccine before results on whether it works are known. 

“Pfizer plans to activate its extensive manufacturing network and invest at risk in an effort to produce an approved COVID-19 vaccine as quickly as possible for those most in need around the world,” the company said in a press release. “The breadth of this program should allow production of millions of vaccine doses in 2020, increasing to hundreds of millions in 2021.”

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