In Bangkok, Thailand scientists have created the world’s first successful HIV experimental vaccine. It was created from a combination of two previous vaccines, which on there own yielded little success, according to the article posted by the Associated Press. It was announced today that the vaccine has “cut the risk of becoming infected with HIV by more then 31 percent,” in what was the world’s largest AIDS vaccine trial.
“Today marks a historic milestone,” said Mitchell Warren, executive director of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, an international group that helped “work toward developing a vaccine,” according to the AP.
In the experiment, strains of HIV common in Thailand were used, however, scientists are still unsure of whether the same vaccine would work in the U.S, Africa or other countries around the globe. “This is a world first which proves that vaccine development is possible, but this is not to the level where we can license or manufacture the vaccine yet,” said Dr. Supachai Rerks-Ngarm, the Thai Health Ministry official who oversaw the trial.
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— Katelynd Jarvis
