WRAL Special - Our Best Shot - How HIV Research Helped Build the Foundation for COVID-19 Vaccines

When the novel coronavirus started spreading across China, researchers at Duke’s Human Vaccine Institute shifted their attention to the coming pandemic. With the government already working with pharmaceutical companies on vaccines DHVI looked ahead and used samples from people infected with COVID-19 to begin work on a vaccine that would combat all future mutations of the virus. DHVI also helped develop COVID-19 tests and helped set up clinical trials for the new vaccines. Duke researchers say those vaccines were developed so quickly because of the work they and researchers at other institutions across the nation did on HIV and other viruses over the last couple of decades.

The WRAL Special “Our Best Shot” looks at the research and technology developed in the search for an HIV vaccine and how that work advanced the understanding of viruses and vaccine, helping build the foundation for the development of the new COVID-19 vaccines. It also looks at DHVI’s current effort to develop a universal vaccine for all forms of coronavirus to prevent future pandemics. And it takes an inside look at DHVI’s Regional Biocontainment Laboratory where researchers work with viruses in the effort to develop vaccines and treatments.

“Our Best Shot” is hosted by WRAL News Reporter Gilbert Baez who talks about how his vaccination helped him survive his own battle with COVID-19 and what he learned from the experience.​ .
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