With 1,878,295 infected and 119,829 deceased by coronavirus in the world as of April 14, researchers are leaving their skin to develop the vaccine that will help stop the pandemic.
Developing a vaccine is not easy. The research involves organizations such as pharmaceutical giants, small biotech companies, academic centers, and non-profit groups. In addition, it is not a process that is ready today for tomorrow, it is expensive, complicated and long. It usually takes years of testing to determine that the vaccine is safe and effective. Now, gravity is pressing and drug makers hope to cut times significantly. However, if experimentation steps are omitted, such as the one done with animals, an “immune boost” can occur, that is, the vaccine weakens the person’s immune response to the virus.
As many will know, SARS-CoV-2 is the third coronavirus outbreak of the 21st century. First came SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and later came MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome). However, there is no approved vaccine against coronaviruses.
Developing the vaccine against the new coronavirus
The WHO (World Health Organization) has recently published a document in which it lists the different companies that are immersed in the development of a vaccine against the new coronavirus.
CanSino is one of the biotech companies that are working on the development of a vaccine against the coronavirus. She is Chinese, has an experimental vaccine, and is in phase two of human trials .
Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Moderna , based in the United States, have begun human trials.
Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi are also working on developing the long-awaited vaccine.
The director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci, said the United States will have to wait at least 12 to 18 months to have a vaccine against the coronavirus. Some experts have warned that even trying to meet that deadline is a risky plan that could backfire.
Vaccines are typically tested first in a laboratory, then in animals, later in a small group of people to test their safety, and finally in larger groups to see if they can prevent disease. What experts are concerned about is that some of these steps may be skipped. This can lead to an “immune boost ,” which results in the vaccine weakening the person’s immune response to the virus.
“The way to reduce that risk is to first show that it does not occur in laboratory animals,” Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine, told Reuters. However, as reported by Stat News , the rush to find the coronavirus vaccine is causing some drug makers to skip animal testing.
“I understand the importance of speeding up vaccine timelines in general, but from all I know, this is not the vaccine to do,” Hotez said.
