Coronavirus Vaccine Update: The British government will invest to start a “human challenge” in which researchers will infect young, healthy volunteers with Covid-19 to accelerate coronavirus vaccine research. The AstraZeneca-Oxford coronavirus vaccine, which had suffered a setback with the volunteer’s illness, may resume trials in the US again after more than a month of waiting.
Meanwhile, the Indian Ministry of Health has identified 3 million health workers who will be vaccinated in the first round. This includes around 70 lakh from doctors and other essential workers.
ASTRAZENECA UNITED STATES TESTS
AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine trial in the United States is expected to resume this week after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) completed its review of a serious illness, according to a Reuters report. in a volunteer.
AstraZeneca’s large advanced-stage American trial has been on hold since Sept. 6, after a participant in the company’s UK trial fell ill with what was suspected to be a rare spinal inflammatory disorder called myelitis. transverse.
However, the FDA has declined to comment on the report.
THE UK WILL START THE HUMAN CHALLENGE
Britain will help fund trials that use a Covid-19 virus manufactured to deliberately infect young healthy volunteers in hopes of speeding up vaccine development against it.
The UK government said on Tuesday it will invest $ 43.5 million in “human challenge” trials in partnership with Imperial College London, laboratory and testing services company hVIVO and the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. .
If approved by regulators and an ethics committee, the studies will begin in January and results are expected in May 2021, the government said.
INDIA WILL VACCINE 3 CRORE
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who addressed the nation Tuesday night, said: “Few vaccine trials are at an advanced stage. Our doctors and scientists are working on it. The government is also working on the distribution of the vaccine and also makes sure to provide the vaccine to every person in the country.
Meanwhile, sources from the Ministry of Health said: “We have a rough estimate that approximately 3 million people have been identified to be vaccinated in the first tranche. This would include between 70 and 80 million rupees of doctors and around 2 million million health workers. “
The 2 crore front-line workers include central and state police forces, domestic guards, armed forces, municipal workers and Asha workers, and community workers such as cleaners, teachers and drivers.
SINOPHARM CAN MAKE 1 BILLION DOSES
China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm), one of several Chinese firms developing coronavirus vaccines, said it could have the capacity to produce more than 1 billion doses in 2021, President Liu Jingzhen said at a news conference of the government.
PFIZER TRIALS IN JAPAN
Pfizer Inc and BioNTech have announced the start of clinical trials of their coronavirus vaccine candidate in Japan. Pfizer will begin combined phase I and phase II clinical trials of its coronavirus mRNA vaccine candidate.
The study will recruit 160 people between the ages of 20 and 85, the firms said in a statement. Previously, they had agreed to supply Japan with 120 million doses of their experimental coronavirus vaccine in the first half of 2021.
Pfizer, which is developing the vaccine with German partner BioNTech, has said it can confirm whether the vaccine is effective starting this month, but it also needs safety data from a global trial of 44,000 people that won’t be available until next month. .
(With input from Reuters)
