APThe first human trial to evaluate a candidate vaccine against the new coronavirus has begun in Seattle. The vaccine is called mRNA-1273 and was developed by US National Institutes of Health scientists and others at biotechnology firm Moderna in Cambridge, Massachusetts. There are no approved vaccines or treatments against Covid-19, which is believed to have originated in bats. The Moderna vaccine carries the genetic information of this spike in a substance called "Messenger RNA." Patients with mild cases recover in a week or two while severe cases can take six or more weeks.

Source: The Standard March 17, 2020 19:07 UTC