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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
Is a vaccine candidate that protected monkeys from MERS being tested against COVID-19?
Friday, May 29, 2020
By Remaya Campbell
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YES
An April 2020 study showed that a vaccine candidate developed in response to the 2012 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome epidemic was effective in combating MERS in rhesus macaque monkeys, which are genetically similar to humans.
The potential MERS vaccine, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, is now being tested in human trials in the U.K. and Saudi Arabia to determine whether it might be effective against COVID-19, which is related to the MERS-CoV coronavirus.
The trial has received U.K. government support and drawn the participation of AstraZeneca, a large pharmaceutical company. Researchers involved in the vaccine trials say results are at least six months away.
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Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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