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

The first participant in the trial will receive the experimental vaccine on Monday, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the trial has not been publicly announced yet. The National Institutes of Health is funding the trial, which is taking place at a Kaiser Permanente research facility in Washington state, the official said.

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