Even as the world focuses on a US-German vaccine for COVID-19, Taiwanese researchers are continuing work on their own homegrown vaccines. One of these Taiwanese vaccines is being readied for stage two clinical trials.
How soon might Taiwan have its own COVID-19 vaccine? That’s hard to say, but we can be sure that stage two clinical trials planned for one potential vaccine will have no shortage of human volunteers.
As of noon on Thursday, just a day after the registration platform for potential volunteers went online, over 10,000 people had already expressed their interest in taking part in the trial. That number has since continued to climb.
This second stage trial is expected to begin in late December. Volunteers chosen to take part will be given two doses of the vaccine. They will also have to give blood samples four times over the course of the trial so that researchers can check for antibodies in their blood serum. Finally, volunteers will be monitored for adverse side effects including fever and cellulitis.
Hope for a homegrown Taiwanese vaccine in the coming months remains.