Novel coronavirus vaccine: Animal tests started

Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China, scientists from various pharmaceutical companies and other institutions have tried to create a vaccine to stop its spread. Recently, a Shanghai company produced samples of a new vaccine which has just been tested on animals.

Animal testing is a must for any vaccine before it's put to public use. Researchers at Tongji University in Shanghai are using these healthy mice to test some of the latest coronavirus vaccine samples.

Liu Zhongmin, president of Shanghai East Hospital under the Tongji University School of Medicine, told CGTN that mouse testing is just a preliminary screening for candidate vaccines. After searching through effective antibodies against this virus, the candidate vaccine will continue onto a toxicological test, which will need larger animals such as monkeys. That will allow us to gauge the safety of the vaccines before applying for clinical testing.

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