--- ---  # Zika Vaccine Moves Toward Human Trials by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jun 20, 2016 4:20 PM UTC  Getty Images; Illustration by Marisa Gertz for TIME by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jun 20, 2016 4:20 PM UTC Developers of a new [Zika](http://time.com/4371779/zika-virus-birth-defects-us/) vaccine have been given the go-ahead to test the safety of the medicine in humans. The vaccine’s creators, Inovio Pharmaceuticals and GeneOne Life Science, [announced](http://ir.inovio.com/news/news-releases/news-releases-details/2016/Inovio-Pharmaceuticals-and-GeneOne-Life-Science-Receive-Approval-for-First-in-Man-Zika-Vaccine-Clinical-Trial/default.aspx) on Monday that the group was given permission from the U.S. health regulators to start an early-stage trial. The companies plan to enroll 40 healthy people to test the vaccine’s safety and immune response. The trial will be the first to test a Zika vaccine in humans. It is still too early to say how effective or safe this particular vaccine will be. [Other groups are also working on vaccines](http://www.nature.com/news/the-race-is-on-to-develop-zika-vaccine-1.19634), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) says it is encouraging rapid development. The outbreak was declared a [public health emergency of international concern](http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2016/emergency-committee-zika-microcephaly/en/) by the World Health Organization (WHO) in February, and continues to rapidly spread through the Americas and [into U.S. territories](http://time.com/4373358/zika-spreading-rapidly-puerto-rico/). Health officials report that three infants in the continental U.S. have been born with Zika-related microcephaly. In Colombia, where transmission of the virus is rampant, about [12,000 pregnant women now have Zika](http://time.com/4370775/zika-virus-colombia-pregnant-women/). Zika Vaccine for Virus Moves Toward Human Trials ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4374750/zika-vaccine-human-trials/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4374750/zika-vaccine-human-trials/"},"headline":"Zika Vaccine Moves Toward Human Trials","datePublished":"2016-06-20T16:20:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:42:48.347Z","description":"The first human trial of a Zika vaccine is given the green light","url":"https://time.com/4374750/zika-vaccine-human-trials/","keywords":["Zika","FDA","mosquito"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3fbfb3ca36acc618/69889607bc6cfc63a23dd3bf/mosquito.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3fbfb3ca36acc618/69889607bc6cfc63a23dd3bf/mosquito.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"mosquito","caption":"mosquito","creditText":"Getty Images; Illustration by Marisa Gertz for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/zika/","name":"Zika"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4374750/zika-vaccine-human-trials/","name":"Zika Vaccine Moves Toward Human Trials"}}]}] ```