Bill Gates Foundation has partnered with The South African Medical Research Council to develop the very first vaccine in Africa
Wits University has surprisingly revealed that it is involved in clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccine scheduled to begin on Wednesday.Bill Gates Foundation has partnered with The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) to develop the very first vaccine in Africa.
The university announced that it is going ahead with vaccine trials during a virtual press conference.
It is reported that the institution will enrol 2,000 people between the ages of 18 and 65 for the trial, which was expected to be run at multiple sites in the country.
Wits reported that vaccine trials are a result of a collaboration with the University of Oxford and the Oxford Jenner Institute.
Wits University's Professor of Vaccinology and a director of SAMRC’s Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics (VIDA) Research Unit, Shabir Madhi, is the man behind the South African Ox1Cov-19 Vaccine VIDA-Trial.
"This is a landmark moment for South Africa and Africa at this stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. As we enter winter in South Africa and pressure increases on public hospitals, now more than ever we need a vaccine to prevent infection by COVID-19," said Madhi at the launch of the South African Ox1Cov-19 Vaccine VIDA-Trial.
💉#VIDACov19 : FIRST COVID-19 VACCINE TRIAL IN SOUTH AFRICA & AFRICA BEGINS.
— Wits University (@WitsUniversity) June 23, 2020
Wits University is hosting a virtual press conference for the Ox1Cov-19 Vaccine VIDA-Trial. Wits is collaborating with @UniofOxford & the Oxford Jenner Institute on the trial: https://t.co/w8T37cJZdq pic.twitter.com/xrmjm0tq3k
"We began screening participants for the South African Oxford 1 COVID-19 vaccine trial last week and the first participants will be vaccinated this week," he added.
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