The first coronavirus vaccine has now been deemed "safe for humans" in a breakthrough study.
Researchers at Beijing Institute of Biotechnology in Beijing, China, who carried out the study, say the vaccine produces a rapid immune response to the deadly disease.
The trial was carried out in 109 healthy adults between ages 18 and 60 and demonstrated promising results after 28 days— with the final results due to be evaluated in six months.
New research published in medical journal The Lancet hails the finding as "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," Professor Wei Chen from the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology said.
“These results represent an important milestone.
“The challenges in the development of a COVD-19 vaccine are unprecedented, and the ability to trigger these immune responses does not necessarily indicate that the vaccine will protect humans from COVID-19.
"This result shows a promising vision for the development of COVID-19 vaccines, but we are still a long way from this vaccine being available to all.”
Further trials are needed to tell whether the immune response it triggers can effectively protect against SARS-CoV-2 infection, but the signs are promising.
The creation of an effective vaccine to beat the killer virus is seen as the long-term solution to controlling the COVID-19 pandemic.
Currently, there are more than 100 candidate COVID-19 vaccines in development worldwide.
The new 'Ad5 vectored COVID-19 vaccine' is the first to be tested in humans.
It uses a weakened common cold virus to deliver genetic material that makes the coronavirus inside human cells.
