The University of Alabama to test a possible COVID-19 vaccine

Starting soon, UAB researchers will begin testing a possible vaccine that could prevent COVID-19.

The vaccine is called AdCOVID, and it was created by the Maryland-based biopharmaceutical company Altimmune, Inc. It is a single-dose vaccine that is sprayed up the nose.

"If we see the type of activity that we have seen in our influenza, which was recently completed, we would be in a position to make a big impact," Scot Roberts, the Chief Scientific Officer for Altimmune, Inc. said. "That is because we're able to induce a lot of different types of immunity. Instead of just the antibody that we have been talking about, we also induce a special kind of immunity in the nose because we administer it intranasally. That allows for this immunity called mucosal immunity to be developed, and mucosal immunity can stop the virus from even gaining a foothold in the first place, and then we can also induce an immunity called cellular immunity. Between the three: the mucosal, the antibody in the blood and the cellular immunity, we have a very broad kind of coverage. So, no matter what the virus needs to be neutralized or be controlled, we have a good chance of providing that type of immunity, so we think the impact will be quite large."

https://abc3340.com/news/local/uab-to-test-a-possible-covid-19-vaccine