Experts optimistic about COVID-19 vaccine testing

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - There is some promising news in the race to find a vaccine for COVID-19.

The first one tested in the United States produced the results experts were hoping for, but the most critical phase of the experiment has yet to start.

Cleveland Clinic Dr. Dan Culver spoke to 19 News about the phase one results of this study saying, “I think this is very promising and of course Moderna has gotten a tremendous amount of press and attention.”

“What it shows is the 45 patients tested patients were able to generate antibody responses and also cell responses from immune cells and levels that are probably consistent with people who have been recovered from COVID,” said Dr. Culver.

The maximum age of these 45 participants was just 55, there were no pediatric patients, and almost all of them were Caucasian without chronic health problems.

Dr. Culver says it’s a good step forward as phase two of the trial is going on now with 600 people. “Phase two is a broader population it allows patients with more medical conditions into it,” he said.

The true test is phase three, which is set to start July 27th, including 30,000 patients around the country. “Some people get the vaccine and some people get a placebo and the question will be whether or not the ones who got the vaccine have less chance of getting COVID infection,” said Dr. Culver.

Those results are expected by the end of the year or early 2021.

“Fortunately, there’s been a strategy of producing the vaccine, scaling up production right along with the trial, so that if the trial is positive, we will then be able to move on to distribution of the vaccine and continue production.”

Dr. Culver says there are a lot of chances to be successful as more than two dozen possible COVID-19 vaccines are being tested.

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