Maryland man may be first person successfully vaccinated against COVID-19

A Maryland man believes he may be one of the first people to be successfully vaccinated against the coronavirus after participating in a trial that has reported promising early results in producing antibodies, according to reports.

David Rach, a graduate immunology student, was the first person to be injected in the trial in May at the University of Maryland, where US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German firm BioNTech are working together in the global race to create a vaccine, the Daily Mail reports.

Now, early indications show the vaccine is working by stimulating the growth of antibodies at rates equal to or higher than those who have the illness, according to WJLA.

“There is a component of relief seeing that it’s actually producing results, that the vaccine is producing antibodies,” Rach told the news station.

Rach cannot be certain whether he was given the actual vaccine or a placebo saline solution, but after a slight reaction from his second dose, he is convinced he is one of the very few people in the world vaccinated against COVID-19, the outlet said.

He is due to be tested in October to determine if he does have immunity against the virus.

If the trial proves successful, Pfizer said, it will produce 100 million doses before the end of the year and more than a billion doses next year, WJLA reports.

Source: New York Post