Government official: Coronavirus vaccine trial starts Monday

SEATTLE — A clinical trial evaluating a vaccine designed to protect against the new coronavirus will begin Monday, March 16, according to a government official.

The first participant in the trial will receive the experimental vaccine on Monday, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity Sunday because the trial had not been publicly announced.

The National Institutes of Health is funding the trial at a Kaiser Permanente research facility in Washington state, the official said.

Public health officials said it will take a year to 18 months to fully validate any potential vaccine.