Oxford University’s timeline for a COVID-19 vaccine is shorter than previous estimates
Vaccines are hard to make (Retha Ferguson/Pexels/)Follow all of PopSci’s COVID-19 coverage here, including tips on cleaning groceries, ways to tell if your symptoms are just allergies, and a tutorial on making your own mask.As scientists around the world race to develop a vaccine for COVID-19, researchers at Oxford University have now pulled into the lead. The team recently began testing a vaccine candidate in people that—if effective—could possibly become available as early as September, the New York Times reported on April 27. That would be well before any other vaccine effort currently underway is expected to reach the finish line. The researchers were able to move swiftly because they had already developed a vaccine candidate for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), a virulent respiratory disease caused by another member of the coronavirus family. Last year they showed that the vaccine was safe in people and prompts an immune response...