ugc_banner

Thailand begins coronavirus vaccine trials on monkeys

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: May 23, 2020, 11:18 PM IST
main img
Representative image Photograph:(AFP)

Story highlights

Thailand announced on Wednesday that it was developing a vaccine - one of at least 100 potential vaccines in the works worldwide - and hoped to have it into production by next year.

Thailand on Saturday began testing a vaccine against the coronavirus on monkeys after positive trials in mice.

Thailand's minister of higher education, science, and research and innovation, Suvit Maesincee, said hoped to have a "clearer outcome" of its effectiveness by September.
 
"This project is for the human race, not just Thais. The prime minister (Prayuth Chan-ocha) has outlined a policy that we must develop a vaccine and join the world community workforce on this," Reuters quoted Suvit as saying on Saturday.

Thailand announced on Wednesday that it was developing a vaccine - one of at least 100 potential vaccines in the works worldwide - and hoped to have it into production by next year.

The Thai vaccine uses messenger RNA, which prompts body cells to produce antigens, molecules on the surface of viruses, that spur the immune system into action.

Since the new virus emerged in China late last year, COVID-19 has spread around the world, infecting more than 5 million people and killing more than 300,000.