A coronavirus vaccine has been successfully tested in humans for the first time and resulted in a rapid immune response, according to medical journal The Lancet.
A group of 108 volunteers took part in China's CanSino Biologics Inc trial, with promising early results showing antibodies against the virus present in a majority of participants.
The vaccine will now need to undergo further testing to confirm the treatment can be used to successfully shield humans from Covid-19 infections.
"These results represent an important milestone. The trial demonstrates that a single dose of the new adenovirus type 5 vectored COVID-19 (Ad5-nCoV) vaccine produces virus-specific antibodies and T cells in 14 days, making it a potential candidate for further investigation," said Professor Wei Chen from Beijing's Institute of Biotechnology.
"However ... the ability to trigger these immune responses does not necessarily indicate that the vaccine will protect humans from COVID-19 ... we are still a long way from this vaccine being available to all."
The results mark a milestone in global efforts to find a vaccine, currently more than 100 potential Covid-19 vaccines are in development.
Of these about 12 are in the human testing phase, designed to ensure the vaccine is safe to use.
A number, including CanSino's, have been able to progress to large scale testing.
Healthy adult participants in that trial were given either a low, medium or high dose of the vaccine via injection.
Four weeks after the jab, no serious side affects where noted besides mild pain at the injection site, or in some cases fever, fatigue, headache, and muscle pains.
