A UK scientist has said that his team, leading the research into a coronavirus vaccine, have made a significant breakthrough in Coronavirus vaccine. Professor Robin Shattock, head of mucosal infection and immunity at Imperial College London, said he is now at the stage to start testing the vaccine on animals as early as next week with human studies in the summer if enough funding is secured.
According to Professor Shattock, the difference between this vaccine effort and that of previous outbreaks, such as the SARS outbreak in 2002, is that a vaccine could potentially be produced much faster than conventional methods.
"Conventional approaches usually take at least two to three years before you even get to the clinic. And we've gone from that sequence to generating a candidate in the laboratory in 14 days," He told Sky News.
Professor Shattock is part of a global effort to develop a vaccine that could potentially save hundreds or thousands of lives if this coronavirus outbreak develops into a full blown pandemic.
He further stated that it is not going to be too late if this becomes a pandemic. "We still don't know much about the epidemic itself so it may wane over the summer months if it is like influenza," he added.
The viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 14,550 people globally.
Cases confirmed as of Sunday morning in Beijing:
— China: 14,380 cases on the mainland. In addition, Hong Kong has 14 cases and Macao has seven. Most of the 304 deaths have been in central Hubei province, where illnesses from the new type of coronavirus were first detected in December.
— Thailand: 19
— Japan: 20
— Singapore: 18
— South Korea: 15
— Taiwan: 10
— Malaysia: 8
— Australia: 7
— Germany: 8
— United States: 8
— France: 6
— Vietnam: 6
— Canada: 4
— United Arab Emirates: 5
— Russia: 2
— Italy: 2
— Britain: 2
— Cambodia: 1
— Finland: 1
— India: 1
— Philippines: 1 death, 1 additional case
— Nepal: 1
— Sri Lanka: 1
— Sweden: 1
— Spain 1
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