Masks may be our best bet in keeping the COVID-19 virus at bay until a vaccine is created. A recent study from the University of Maryland and the University of Hong Kong in China have found that the use of surgical masks is able to greatly reduce viral practical shedding through coughing, sneezing and breathing.
On April 3, the Center for Disease Control began strongly urging all Americans to wear a mask while making any trip outside of the home.
Although a vaccine to combat COVID-19 still has yet to be developed, there has been an influx of border testing as well as antibody testing. According to The Washington Post, the United States Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir said there is currently work being done that will test and measure people’s antibodies and presumably their immunity to the virus.
Giroir said, “We will have millions [of tests] on the market by May.” The effectiveness of this test will be necessary to health officials worldwide trying to better understand just how widely the virus is spread.
As of Monday, April 6, testing of a second vaccine has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration on a volunteer candidate, according to The Hill. Invino Pharmaceuticals is the company heading up this testing program, which is partially supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
It begins with 40 healthy adult participants receiving two doses of the drug, INO-4800, four weeks apart. The initial immunity responses and data are expected to be available by late summer.
The drug is a DNA vaccine that is designed to prevent the initial infection of COVID-19. Inovio stated that the preclinical results for the potential COVID-19 vaccine are consistent with a completed phase one vaccine study for MERS, or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, which the CDC reports is also caused by coronavirus.