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Uganda to undertake human trials of Covid-19 vaccine

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Uganda’s government has said that human trials of a Covid-19 vaccine will start in November this year.

Ministry of health officials are reported by local media as saying that a vaccine, called Self Replicating RNA, has already been developed.

The vaccine was developed under a partnership between Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) and Imperial College in the UK.

The head of Uganda’s presidential taskforce on epidemics, Monica Musenero, said the first trial will be conducted on 10 Ugandans.

She said if successful, extra 100 to 200 people will be involved in the second phase before a final trial of between 1,000 and 3,000 people.

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Uganda so far has confirmed more than 7,000 coronavirus cases and 75 deaths.

South Africa in June this year rolled out its first Covid-19 vaccine trial.

The trial was to help find a vaccine that will prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection, the virus that causes Covid-19.

The University of the Witwatersrand carried out the trial, according to South African officials.

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Nigeria has accepted to be part of the World Health Organisation’s solidarity trial of vaccines for coronavirus.

So far more than 100 countries have joined the WHO solidarity trial for vaccine initiative.

Meanwhile earlier this month drug giant AstraZeneca paused global trials of its coronavirus vaccine because of an unexplained illness in one of the volunteers.

It’s a standard precaution in vaccine trials that is meant to ensure experimental vaccines don’t cause serious reactions among participants.

“As part of the ongoing randomized, controlled global trials of the Oxford coronavirus vaccine, our standard review process triggered a pause to vaccination to allow review of safety data,” the company said in a statement.

The company was testing its vaccine, called the Oxford vaccine because it was developed with Britain’s University of Oxford, in the United States as well as the UK, Latin America, Asia, Europe and Africa.

Russia becomes first country to approve COVID-19 vaccine

Source: Africafeeds.com

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