There were animal trials. Here's an overview post of various vaccine's primate trials: https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2020/07/30/coronavirus-cha

There were animal trials. Here's an overview post of various vaccine's primate trials: https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2020/07/30/coronavirus-challenges-in-primates-compared https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2020/07/30/co... And as linked in that post, Moderna's primate study: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2024671?query=featured_home https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2024671?query=fe...