The U.S. Army has conducted clinical testing of its own COVID-19 vaccine, which is designed to protect against pandemic viruses, their variants and other coronaviruses.
In early tests, the vaccine appears to produce high levels of antibodies that can block older “wild-type” new coronaviruses, three major CCA variants, and even the SASA pathogen.
The vaccine was developed by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), and researchers hope it has the potential to stop future viruses from causing pandemics.
The company launched its first clinical trial this week, which will test the vaccine on 72 healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 55.
As viruses similar to the one that caused COVID-19 are transmitted more frequently from animals to humans, raising the global risk of more pandemics.
As a result, the United States hopes to develop a specific vaccine that will hopefully address the current epidemic, its mutations, and possible future outbreaks. Ideally, it would be the development of a universal vaccine that might be able to combat any type of strain and stop future pandemics from occurring.
To achieve this goal, the technology used by the U.S. Army – known as the ferritin nanoparticle vaccine platform – allows tiny, harmless pieces of virus to attach to the circular surface of a vector and be delivered to the human body.
The vector is a ferritin nanoparticle, a tiny particle that contains iron. Most vaccines, such as those made by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, use harmless viruses as carriers. mRNA injections from companies such as Moderna and Pfizer deliver a piece of the genetic code for the coronavirus stinger protein, allowing the body to make the protein and the antibodies to fight it.
But the vaccine developed by the U.S. military may trigger broader protection and, because it uses a simpler type of iron nanoparticle, does not need to be stored at low temperatures as currently approved vaccines do.
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