Emory University joins national coronavirus vaccine trial

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — UPDATE: Emory tells us this clinical trial is now full

Emory University has joined a national trial of a vaccine that could potentially prevent COVID-19, the university announced Saturday.

It's the first vaccine to to be tested in the United States.

The Phase I study, which began March 16 in Seattle, is to test whether the vaccine is safe. If it is found to be safe, future studies will examine if it can prevent infection.

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"The vaccine is based on messenger RNA, which tells some cells in the body to make a viral protein," the university said in a statement. "The RNA-based approach allows for faster vaccine development than older methods. The vaccine does not contain coronavirus itself and cannot cause infection."

Emory's Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit (VTEU) is enrolling 45 people in the trial across two sites in metro Atlanta, the Emory Children's Center Vaccine Research Clinic and the Hope Clinic.

Participants must be adults in the Atlanta area aged 18 to 55 who don't have a chronic disease or condition.

There are now 2,366 confirmed coronavirus cases in Georgia 69 people have died, according to the Department of Public Health.

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