South Africa will launch clinical trials of a US-developed coronavirus vaccine with 2,900 volunteers this week, the second such study in the African country worst hit by the disease.
The vaccine is known as NVX-CoV2373, and it was developed by US biotech company Novavax from the genetic sequence of SARS‑CoV‑2, the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease.
Lead Investigator, Shabir Mahdi, Who is a professor in Johannesburg-based University of the Witwatersrand said, “It will be administered to the first volunteer in the randomised, observer-blinded trial on Wednesday.”
He added, “It’s a two-dose schedule, and they get two either vaccines or placebos… spaced three weeks apart”.
With 589,886 cases and 11,982 deaths, South Africa is fifth in global rankings for countries with the most infections.
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