Coronavirus vaccine-When will it roll out and will it be effective in disease control?

Updated On March 18, 2024 | Published By: shahid | In controversy , Health , Wellness

The current coronavirus pandemic has become a nightmare for the world. It has led to innumerable infections and deaths and an economic meltdown.

Scientists and pharmaceutical companies are clambering to find some effective cure for it. They are also looking for a tool for prevention such as a coronavirus vaccine.

Studies are already on but when is the likely date that the coronavirus vaccine would be on the market for use?

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Coronavirus vaccine – the stage of the vaccine

It has been more than three months since the coronavirus has struck the world. But it is such a deadly virus with such far-reaching implications for the lives of people and nations that scientists have already begun working on a vaccine against the virus. When is it likely to roll out?

UK’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, and his US counterpart, Anthony Fauci have time and again stated that it will be at least 12-18 months before an effective and safe vaccine against the coronavirus would highly the market. But then there are some including the pharmaceutical companies who state that they will have in their hand a vaccine as early as June 2020.

So who is right? The virus is so strong that probably there will have to be some changes in the steps of vaccine development and manufacturing.

More on the vaccine timing

The President and CEO of Management Sciences for Health, a Massachusetts-based global not-for-profit organization, Marian Wentworth stated:

“It really depends on what you mean by ‘having a vaccine’,”
“If you mean one that can be used in a mass vaccination campaign, allowing us all to get on with our lives, then 12 to 18 months is probably right.”

Certain emergency rules were developed by drug regulatory agencies and the World Health Organization in the context of the recent Ebola epidemic in Africa. That, an experimental safe, and effective vaccine could come early for the high-risk category which includes healthcare workers, and close relatives of infected patients especially those with co-morbid conditions.

University of Oxford’s Adrian Hill and his team already have a Covid-19 vaccine candidate which would be ready by this coming summer. Sarah Gilbert and her group feel that the vaccine needs to undergo phase 3 trials and hence it will be ready for use only in autumn.

Additionally, a Boston-based biotech firm, Moderna, started human trials of its experimental Covid-19 vaccine on 16 March 2020. And the Pasteur Institute in Paris is still in the preclinical stage of vaccine development.

The normal phases of vaccine development

Scientists first test a lab-developed vaccine in animals in preclinical studies. Later it enters into human or clinical trials. The latter also has three phases. In phase 1, researchers first test the new experimental vaccine on a few healthy volunteers.

This is mainly to know about the safety of the vaccine. Later in phases 2 and 3, more patients from places with the prevalence of the disease are tested. When safe and effective, the vaccine is deemed fit for marketing after FDA approval.

During a pandemic, an accelerated version of this process can be done. In this, certain steps are done in parallel, such as animal and phase-1 clinical testing. And even before sufficient safety and efficacy data are available, the companies step up production.

Some expert opinions on the coronavirus vaccine

Beate Kampmann, Head of the vaccine center at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine opined:

“People now appreciate that the lengthy process of conventional licensing of vaccines is not going to be helpful in the context of an epidemic,”

He adds:

“We’re getting to candidates much more quickly, The step-up in technology that we have seen in the last five years has really made a difference.”

But despite the quickness of trials, licensing is a prerequisite before mass production and that may take time. Besides, there have been some reports of re-infection which implies that the vaccine may not be useful for coronavirus prevention. Marian Wentworth states:

“If our own body can’t prevent us from getting it again, that would be one pretty damning signal,”

After the license as well there would be political issues of availability and prioritization. And by the time the vaccine is available, the coronavirus pandemic might have ended. But Marian says:

“That learning, we won’t unlearn.”

Also, read Photographer Anthony Causi died at the age of 48 due to Coronavirus!

Source: The Guardian

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