COVID-19 Vaccine: Optimism Grows As Two More Candidates Enter Final Phase Of Human Trials!

Optimism about a possible cure for COVID-19 has been growing since the positive results obtained by the vaccine being developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca in its two initial human trials. Now two more vaccines, namely Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc in the US, have entered the final phase or phase 3 of human clinical trials. Both vaccines are beginning trials with volunteers up to 30,000 each. The final trials will test the safety and efficacy of the vaccines in humans between the ages of 18 and 85 and could hopefully clear the way for regulatory approval and widespread use later this year, according to reports from press. While Moderna Therapeutics had never brought a vaccine to market before Pfizer began its vaccine development process in 2019 in collaboration with a German biotech company BioNTech. The duo’s late-stage clinical trials will take place in 39 US states as well as countries including Argentina, Brazil and Germany; in total, 120 global sites.

These two vaccines are part of the Trump Administration’s efforts to speed up the vaccine testing, production and manufacturing process. Moderna is made possible with special financial support from the US of $1 billion, plus non-traditional technology support that enables faster development and manufacturing. Pfizer Inc also reached an agreement with the Trump Administration whereby it would supply 50 million doses to the US at a cost of $2 billion, in addition to new technology support. Subject to approval, Moderna aims to produce between 500 million and 1 billion doses a year starting in early 2021, while Pfizer will have 1.3 billion doses ready by the end of 2021. Of course, most of the doses will be used within the US and some will be distributed in some other developed countries.

Meanwhile, the Serum Institute of India has partnered with Oxford-AstraZeneca and is already in the process of manufacturing 2-3 million doses by the end of August 2020, taking calculated risks that the Oxford vaccine will repeat its positive results in the final phase too. The Institute has also obtained permission from the Government of India to conduct late-stage human trials in India as well from August 2020. According to press reports, Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine named AZD122 will be manufactured and distributed in India as Covishield vaccine. , which would cost less than INR 1000 per dose. The Institute has also announced to the media that by the end of 2020 it will have at least 50 million doses of Covishield ready, half of which will be delivered to the Indian government and the rest to other, mostly less developed countries. .

Various levels of optimism are thus available to the avid subjects of planet earth. The most optimistic is Donald Trump’s large-scale usage target in the next two months; Considering the three vaccine scenario, the likely expected delivery would be by the end of 2020; and World Health Organization scientists/doctors are still of the opinion that a safe and effective vaccine may be ready for mass use only in the first half of 2021, at the most optimistic count. Many other experts around the world say that if a vaccine is produced within a year, it would be unprecedented, because a normal vaccine takes five to 10 years to be ready for mass use. However, they further say, in view of the fact that COVID-19 is an entirely new virus and the way the pandemic has been raging for the past several months taking a toll of more than 6,50,000 lives so far, the momentum to produce a vaccine in a short time is justified. But they say that developing a safe and effective vaccine is a complicated job, the challenges are great at each stage: from manufacturing to distribution and finally how many millions will be vaccinated, also considering the fact that many of them might not be willing. to get vaccinated vaccinated
Being optimistic is a positive sentiment and therefore there is nothing wrong with waiting for that magic cure for the coronavirus which has shown a range of strains from mild to severe and fatal making it an extremely risky party. We must expect a safe vaccine as soon as possible, either by the end of this year or in the first half of 2021. Our hope is not at all unfounded, because in addition to the three vaccines in final stages of trials as we mentioned above, there are about 150 candidate vaccines around the world in various stages of development. The probability factor, therefore, is fast becoming a possibility factor: human victory over the enemy of humanity is now almost a matter of time.