The trials will take place at the Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases in Rome.
“Today the first Italian, the first volunteer is undergoing vaccine testing,” Francesco Vaia, the hospital’s health director, told Rai News.
“If all goes well and we finish this trial within this year, we could have the vaccine ready by next spring on a commercial basis.”
Vaia said the key factors to be determined during the human trials were whether the vaccine has any side effects and whether it leads to production of antibodies in the test subjects.
The first of 90 volunteers to undergo the trial test was a 50-year-old woman, who will be monitored for 12 weeks.
“I believe in Italian science. I hope that my choice will be useful and that people will be more responsible,” the woman – who requested to remain anonymous – told Italian media.
Over 5000 people applied for the trial, but researchers selected only those who were in perfect health conditions.
The Italian vaccine is just one of several candidates being developed and tested worldwide in a continued effort to shield the global population from the outbreak.
Similar trials are currently taking place in the UK, Australia, India, Russia and China.
There are currently no approved vaccines that prevent infection by the virus, but the candidates are in different stages of development.
Italy has also signed an agreement with pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca to guarantee the supply of 300 million doses of a different experimental vaccine that the company is developing with Oxford University in the UK.
That vaccine is further along in development than Italy’s, having been tested on animals and a small number of humans so far.
With ANSA
