Popular pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday said it would start human trials of its potential COVID-19 vaccine in the second half of July.
Earlier it had planned to do the same in the month of September.
According to reports, the company has already signed deals with the US government to create enough manufacturing capacity to produce more than one billion doses of its vaccine through 2021.
Johnson and Johnson’s study will test the vaccine against a placebo and assess the shot’s safety and immune response in 1,045 healthy people aged 18 to 55 years, as well as those 65 years and older.
Also read: Johnson & Johnson to conduct human trials for COVID-19 vaccine by Sept
The trial will take place in the United States and Belgium.
There are currently no approved treatments or vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus that has killed more than 400,000 people globally.
Presently about 10 coronavirus vaccines are being tested in humans and experts have predicted that a safe and effective vaccine could take 12 to 18 months from the start of development.
