Nearly 150 potential COVID-19 vaccines are being developed around the world.
Vaccination is the best way to prevent the spread of a pandemic virus and reduce the severity of the disease. Unfortunately, we don't have a vaccine yet for SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that is responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Scientists are racing against time to develop a vaccine for the deadly viral disease, which has infected over 11 million people and claimed over 5 lakh people worldwide. Pharma companies, academic institutions and government laboratories around the world are experimenting with different methods to find a solution to the global health crisis. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 150 potential COVID-19 vaccines are being tested around the world.
But when can we expect the COVID-19 vaccine? It is most likely by 2021, as per WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan.
Speaking to media persons, Swaminathan said that there will be one or more safe and efficacious vaccines by next year. She also stated that the health agency has already started discussions with member-countries to develop a viable framework for the fair distribution of the vaccine.
A vaccine candidate developed by the University of Oxford is currently leading the race. The vaccine, known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine or AZD1222, is already in the final stages of clinical trials. The phase-3 trials have already commenced in hospitals in Brazil and South Africa to assess how well it works in protecting people from becoming infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The drug has shown very good results in chimpanzees. Project leader professor Adrian Hill, the director of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford, had recently said that they are expecting results of the clinical trials by August or September and the vaccine on the market by October. He said it during a webinar of the Spanish Society of Rheumatology last month.
British drugmaker AstraZeneca, which is working with the Oxford researchers on the project, is planning to quickly release 30 million doses of the jab, if the final trails prove successful.
As per media reports, the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) has also partnered with Oxford University to produce one billion doses of the potential COVID-19 vaccine for India and other low-and-middle-income countries. SII is reportedly investing $100 million for the same. SII is among seven institutions that are partnering with Oxford University to manufacture the vaccine.
U.S.-based Moderna, Inovio and Pfizer are other front-runners in the race. China-based companies CanSino, Sinovac, and Sinopharm, are also set to begin phase 3 trials in the coming months.
Covaxin, India's first vaccine candidate for COVID-19, is expected to be launched by August 15. It is being developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV). The ICMR has selected 13 institutions across the country for clinical trials and asked them to initiate subject enrollment by July 7
A potential vaccine needs to go for three rounds of testing: phase 1, phase 2 and phase 3. The first two trials are typically smaller and are done to assess the possibility of adverse reactions. These trails require from 50 to hundreds of volunteers. Due to their smaller size, pharmaceutical companies can easily run these studies in their home countries.
Comparatively, phase 3 trials are a lot more difficult, as they require the involvement of thousands of volunteers to gauge whether the vaccine works in the real world. To speed up the trails, many companies are involving volunteers beyond their own borders, especially in places where the epidemic is still raging.
According to Swaminathan, the WHO will be closely monitoring the phase-3 results of all vaccine trials as some vaccines may be more suitable for one age group, or one type of population group than others.
The WHO has also put forward criteria for selection of vaccines for further development, she said.
Further, she made it clear that several re-purposed drugs which were initially widely used like hydroxychloroquine and HIV drug Lopinavir aren't effective on hospitalized covid-19 patients.
The efficacy of Remdesivir and Favipiravir is yet to be established and so they must be used with caution, she added.
