Germany approves first human trials for Covid-19 vaccine
Germany's vaccines regulator approved live human testing of a potential vaccine against COVID-19 on Wednesday.
The vaccine, developed by Germany's BioNTech will be conducted on 200 healthy people aged between 18 and 55 in the first stage, the country's regulatory body Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (PEI) said.
If tests go well there will be a second round where the vaccine will be injected into more people including those at a higher risk from the disease.
Tests of the vaccine have also been planned in the United States, once regulatory approval for testing on humans has been secured.
The trial is a "significant step" in making a vaccine "available as soon as possible", said PEI. “The approval is result of a careful assessment of the potential risk/benefit profile of the vaccine candidate".
The institute also said that "further clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine candidates will start in Germany in the next few months".