Sun 02 August 2020:
More than 100 possible vaccines are being developed around the world to try and tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) data, at least four vaccines are in the final phase three human trials, including three developed in China and another in the UK.
University of Oxford vaccine found to produce COVID-19 antibodies
Scientists at the University of Oxford say their experimental coronavirus vaccine has been shown in an early trial to prompt a protective immune response in hundreds of people who got the shot.
Scientists said that they found their experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced a dual immune response in people aged 18 to 55.
“We are seeing good immune response in almost everybody,” said Dr Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute at Oxford University. “What this vaccine does particularly well is trigger both arms of the immune system.”
UK secures access to 60 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine candidate
The UK announced that it secured access to 60 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate from GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur.
It’s based on the same technology used to produce Sanofi’s flu vaccine, the UK government said.
“It is important that we secure early access to a diverse range of promising vaccine candidates, like GSK and Sanofi, to increase our chances of finding one that works so we can protect the public and save lives,” business secretary Alok Sharma said.
The UK has already secured millions of doses of three other candidate vaccines.
Russia also reports positive results from a trial
Russia’s vaccine is still in its second phase, which is expected to be complete by August 3 and will take place at the same time as medical workers get vaccinated. Russia’s vaccine will require an additional shot, which is unlike a lot of vaccines, CNN reported.
Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, which funded the vaccine research, compared the vaccine campaign to Russia beating the US in launching the first successful satellite in 1957.
“It’s a Sputnik moment,” he said.
According to Russian scientists, the Gamaleya Institute’s vaccine was developed quickly because it’s based on a modified vaccine that’s been used for different diseases.
Health officials said the vaccine data would become available for review and publication early next month.
On Saturday, Russia registered 5,462 new cases, raising the total to 845,443 and 95 new COVID-19 deaths, taking total to 14,058.
Biggest test yet of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine begins in the US
Thirty thousand volunteers take part in the final testing phase of a potential vaccine developed by US biotech company Moderna Inc and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The results are not expected before November, NIH’s infectious-diseases chief said.
China is among the leaders in the global race for a vaccine
China has positioned itself to be a strong contender. Eight of the nearly two dozen potential vaccines in various stages of human testing worldwide are from China, the most of any country.
Chinese companies are at the forefront of global efforts to create a vaccine for the coronavirus, with more than half a dozen candidates in clinical development. Last week, Tianjin-based CanSino Biologics published results1 from an early-stage clinical trial showing that its vaccine is safe and can trigger an immune response.
Yet the companies could face difficulty as they try to push vaccines through phase III trials, a crucial stage of testing that is needed to prove efficacy and secure approval from regulators. These trials usually require tens of thousands of participants, and with the outbreak in China largely under control, companies are having to test their vaccines elsewhere.
The speed with which Chinese vaccine-makers are moving has raised hopes around the world. Sinopharm has even promised to have a vaccine ready to distribute by the end of the year.
Beijing-based company Sinovac has announced similarly promising results for its own inactivated-virus vaccine.
This month, Sinovac launched a phase III trial of its vaccine in Brazil. Sinopharm will be testing its inactivated vaccines in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Only three other coronavirus vaccines have entered phase III trials: one produced by biotech company Moderna in Cambridge, Massachusetts; one by the University of Oxford and drug maker AstraZeneca, based in Cambridge, UK; and one by biotech company BioNTech of Mainz, Germany, in collaboration with New York City-based drug firm Pfizer.
