Investigational MERS-CoV Vaccine Protects Monkeys; COVID-19 Study Under Way

NIAID scientists have found that an investigational vaccine called ChAdOx1 MERS protected two groups of rhesus macaques from disease caused by Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). MERS-CoV is a relative of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The scientists and colleagues from the University of Oxford are pursuing similar studies with ChAdOx1 SARS2, a vaccine candidate for COVID-19. They posted their results of ChAdOx1 MERS on a preprint server; the findings are not yet peer-reviewed but are being shared to assist the public health response to COVID-19.