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More than 150 potential COVID-19 vaccines are under development around the world.
Scientists around the world are racing against time to develop a cure or vaccine for the deadly coronavirus disease, which has infected more than 11 million people and killed over 5 lakh people globally. They are experimenting with different methods to find a solution to the global health crisis. In particular, scientists in Britain, Germany, China and the United States are using a promising but unproven method for developing COVID-19 vaccines. This new generation of vaccine technologies involves deploying a tiny snip of genetic code called messenger RNA to trigger the immune system. It was only approved for use after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, these cutting-edge RNA vaccine experiments are leading the global COVID-19 vaccine race. Some developers who are using this technique have even claimed to release potential COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year.
The possible RNA vaccines might be cheaper, easier and faster to manufacture on a massive scale. But what is concerning is that they have never been tested in the real world, and that's the reason why some experts are unsure about its efficacy.
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As per reports, more than 150 potential COVID-19 vaccines are being developed by pharma companies, academic institutions and government laboratories around the world. Out of these, 17 teams are now testing their potential vaccines in humans. Most of these developers are employing traditional protocols that have been used to make flu and other vaccines for decades, but five teams are betting on RNA vaccines.
The groups conducting RNA vaccine experiments are among the first to come out with the potential COVID-19 vaccines as these drugs can be rapidly designed on computers, using just the genetic sequence of the coronavirus.
The RNA vaccines are being developed by researchers at Imperial College London, the People's Liberation Army Academy of Military Sciences in China, and three multinational pharma companies Pfizer, Moderna and CureVac and their partners.
A U.S. trial of the first potential RNA vaccine is expected to enter the crucial third phase of the human trial this month. This will determine how well it protects against infection and sickness.
Pfizer is planning to begin a test of one of its possible RNA vaccines in a 30,000-person clinical trial by the end of July. However, regulatory approval is still pending.
One thing that all the potential vaccines share is that they aim to teach our immune system to recognize and neutralize the coronavirus. The newer technologies involve using genetic material such as RNA or DNA to turn the body's cells into miniature vaccine factories. These new methods allowed scientists to begin designing possible vaccines on a computer as soon as the genetic sequence was shared by researchers in China on Jan. 10 as well as start trail in no time.
While the idea of deploying RNA to fight infectious diseases has attracted scientists for years, it has never moved beyond the experimental stage.
The RNA technology looks promising, but questions remain about its safety, given the lack of evidence in using it in large human populations. It's also not sure how long it might last as it's a brand-new technology.