Six months after the COVID-19 epidemic was officially declared, a handful of promising vaccine candidates could soon become powerful tools to prevent further spread of the virus.
According to, more than 100 vaccines are currently in development worldwide, including at least 40 human clinical trials The New York Times. The low number has reached the last stage of the trial, stage 3, or has already been approved for limited use. Multiple vaccines are expected to be available within a month, years after the specific vaccine timeline.
At an advanced stage, the U.S. Three vaccines are currently the most promising in clinical trials. Both Pfizer and Moderna currently have vaccinations undergoing large-scale randomized Phase 3 clinical trials, while the Phase 3 procedure for the AstraZeneca vaccine may soon resume the mandatory suspension on safety concerns.
Preliminary trials showed committed responses for all three candidates, stimulating the production of potentially virus-killing antibodies and stimulating T-cell responses. Some serious side effects were observed.
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However, trials for an AstraZeneca vaccine were temporarily suspended because one trial participant suffered severe inflammation in his spine, according to PBS Newshour. It is not clear if the illness was related to the vaccine or what effect it might have on vaccine development.
Advanced U.S. The triple trials of vaccines are part of the Trump administration’s Operation Operation Speed Initiative, which lacks the development of vaccines and treatments for Covid-19 at an unprecedented pace. Many other vaccines in the first phase of development are also part of the initiative, including candidates from Johnson & Johnson, Norovax and Sanofi.
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There is no monopoly on accelerating research to develop the American coronavirus vaccine. Researchers around the world are being helped by large investments of money and resources, by loosening rules and by new technologies that can develop vaccines faster than conventional techniques.
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While there have been indications that the FDA will not approve the U.S. election before the November election. May have approved a vaccine for emergency use, as President Donald Trump has repeatedly pushed, no one is likely to have completed a trial of his phase tri before.
The Phase 3 trial is the last and most crucial step in determining whether a vaccine or drug is actually safe and effective. It is not uncommon for candidates to show promising results in the initial tests, but fail in the later hurdles. Journal’s 2018 study Biostatistics It was found that two out of three vaccine candidates ultimately failed to get approved.
A number of vaccines developed in China and Russia have already been approved for limited use, despite the lack of conclusive evidence that they are safe or effective.
Vaccines from China’s Cancino Biologics and Russia’s Gamalea Research Institute are being developed using other viruses, which have been engineered to carry genetic material from coronaviruses. This technique has also been used by AstraZeneca candidate and has received many successful vaccines against other diseases in the past.
Three other vaccines to be developed in China have also been approved for limited use, one from Synovac Biotech and two from SynoPharm. These vaccines use a passive form of coronavirus, a method that has produced many successful vaccines for other viruses, however, due to incomplete research it is too early to know whether candidates are safe and effective.
Many other candidates are Messenger RNA. Being developed by, a promising new technology that gives momentum but has not been able to produce a valid vaccine for use in humans. In terms of the completeness of the research, the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are the most advanced to use this method.
Newsweek Reached the FDA for comment.
