When a newly organized vaccine research group at the U.S. National Institutes of Health met for the first time this past week, its members had expected to be able to ease into their work.
But their mandate is to conduct human trials for emerging health threats — and their first assignment came at shocking speed.
In just three months from now, they likely will be testing the first of a number of potential experimental vaccines against the new SARS-like coronavirus that is spreading in China and beyond.