The human experimentation of the anti-Covid vaccine 'made in Italy' at Spallanzani in Rome is underway. Inoculated the dose to the first volunteer this morning. Present at the start of the tests the president of the Lazio Region, Nicola Zingaretti, the regional councilor for health Alessio D'Amato and the leaders of the Institute for infectious diseases of the capital, excellence in the fight against the new coronavirus.
At around 8.30 the first volunteer received the dose of the vaccine. The vaccine that will be tested at Spallanzani is entirely Italian and was born thanks to a protocol signed in March between the President of the Lazio Region, Nicola Zingaretti, the Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza, the Minister of University and Scientific Research, Gaetano Manfredi , the National Research Council and the «Spallanzani» IRCCS. For the realization of this objective, 8 million euros are allocated, 5 million from the Lazio Region, transferred to Spallanzani and 3 million from the Ministry of University and Scientific Research. The vaccine is made, produced and patented by the Italian biotechnology company ReiThera of Castel Romano.
"We are interested in the vaccine being effective. If everything happens on schedule, our hope is that it will be produced in the spring ". Spallanzani health director Francesco Vaia said this on the occasion of the start of the experimentation in the institute of the vaccine on humans.
"The first volunteer who was injected with the vaccine dose this morning will be kept under observation for 4 hours by a team then will return home and will be monitored for 12 weeks - explained Vaia -. Wednesday we will continue with two other volunteers and so on. all the others up to 24 weeks. Then if all goes well there will be the second and third phase of experimentation that we will probably do in a Latin American country where the virus is growing ".
Vaia explained that many volunteers said they intend to "donate the reimbursement foreseen to research".
"Italy with this vaccine is a protagonist in the vaccine war, not to arrive earlier but to arrive better and put the country on an equal footing. Because having an Italian vaccine means not being slaves and servants of other countries that will say ' I first '. "The scientific director of Spallanzani in Rome, Giuseppe Ippolito , said, commenting on the first inoculation of the Italian vaccine this morning in the institute. "Ours is a complex protocol and scruple - he added - which will guarantee maximum security". Ippolito further explained: "It will take at least 24 weeks to complete phase I human vaccine trials. Then we will move on to phase II for which we are already preparing. Playing on the timing and reducing the testing is not useful."
"I am excited and proud. I hope I can be useful to our people." This is what the woman who was injected with the anti-Covid vaccine at Spallanzani in Rome this morning would have said to those who had the opportunity to greet her for a few moments. "I hope that my availability - added the volunteer - can help to save lives and that people are increasingly responsible for not putting themselves and others at risk".
With the launch in Italy of clinical tests of a vaccine candidate against the new coronavirus "the intelligence and research of our country are at the service of the global challenge to defeat Covid": the Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza , notes in a post on his Facebook profile about the start of the experimentation at the Spallanzani Institute of the vaccine candidate developed in Italy by the Biotech Reithera company.