Animal trial offers hope for coronavirus vaccine

A vaccine against coronavirus appears to have provided protection against the disease Covid-19 in six rhesus macaque monkeys.

It gives early hope for the vaccine, which is now undergoing human clinical trials.

There is no guarantee this result will translate to people, though.

A group of monkeys was exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The six animals that were vaccinated had less of the virus in their lungs and airways.

The trial took place in the US, involving researchers from the US government's National Institutes of Health (NIH) and from the University of Oxford.




The vaccine appeared to protect the animals against developing pneumonia.