It is believed that it would be difficult for the countries across the world to lift the lockdown until there’s a proven cure for the Covid-19 virus. While it usually takes a vaccine close to a year to be available to people, the situation seems different during this pandemic.
There are certain stages that a vaccine needs to go through before it is made available for use. Across the world there are close to hundred projects that are racing to be the first vaccine to cure people infected with the Novel Coronavirus.
Currently, there is one vaccine that has cleared the initial stages of understanding the virus and animal testing and are now all prepared to start large-scale trials to ensure that the vaccine doesn’t cause severe side effects.
This will give insights into the amount of dose required, how many shots people need, if the vaccine works in elderly people, and if it requires other chemicals to boost its effectiveness.
The human trials of the potential vaccine started this Thursday wherein 510 healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 55 will be administered. Professor Sarah Gilbert, head of the Oxford team behind the potential vaccin said that there is 80% chance of success, and it could be available for wide use by the public as soon as September.
Although there are 120 projects around the world working toward a vaccine, only five have been approved for clinical trials on humans. Another Oxford initiative, which is a joint partnership between a German biotech company BioNTech and a U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer will begin the trials of a potential vaccine later this month. It will be tested on 200 German volunteers aged between 18 and 55.
The first human trial in the U.S. began in March. That vaccine is made by Moderna Inc. and is being administered at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle. Forty-five healthy adults, aged 18 to 55, are enrolled in that trial, each of whom will receive two shots, 28 days apart.
China also approved its first human trial for a potential vaccine in March. Conducted by the military-backed Academy of Military Medical Sciences and the Hong Kong-listed biotech firm CanSino Bio, researchers involved said that the trial has already shown “positive results.”
With 2.97M Covid cases and 207K deaths globally, it’s not just vaccines that scientists are looking for, Researchers are also trialing existing drugs as potential treatments for the new coronavirus disease, including long-trusted remedies for killer pathogens including Ebola, malaria and HIV.
