Coronavirus COVID19 vaccine update: COVAXIN trial on over 350 people; AstraZeneca, Oxford, China reach late stages

Coronavirus COVID19 vaccine update today:  Coronavirus COVID19 vaccine by 2021, says WHO scientist (Express image)

Coronavirus COVID19 vaccine update today, news, status, progress, human trials: India’s potential COVID19 vaccine candidate COVAXIN is likely to be tested on 375 people in Phase 1 of the coronavirus vaccine development, as media reports. Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), Bharat Biotech, and National Institute of Virology, Pune are developing India’s first ‘indigenous’ Coronavirus vaccine.

Coronavirus COVID19 vaccine by 2021, says WHO scientist! The chief scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO) Soumya Swaminathan has said that at least one COVID19 vaccine will be ready by 2021. Swaminathan said that she was hopeful of seeing one “safe and efficacious” COVID-19 vaccine by the next year. Swaminathan has revealed that WHO has been discussing methods for “fair distribution of the vaccine” with its member countries.

Meanwhile, Sinovac Biotech of China has started Phase III trials of its potential coronavirus vaccine in Brazil. So far, only the other two potential COVID-19 vaccine candidates have managed to reach the “late stages” of developing the COVID-19 vaccine. AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford’s probable COVID19 vaccine and China National Pharmaceutical Group’s (Sinopharm) probable COVID19 vaccine candidate have managed to reach the later stage. US-based Moderna is planning to start its late-stage trial for potential vaccine candidates in July.

Coronavirus COVID-19 vaccine India

India is making significant progress in producing the probable Coronavirus COVID19 vaccine. Several institutions in India have been engaged in Research and Development for COVID-19 vaccines in the country. According to scientific inputs provided by institutions like Pune based ICMR institution National Institute of Virology and Hyderabad based CSIR institution Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology, six Indian companies have been working on probable vaccine candidate for Coronavirus.

COVID-19 Coronavirus vaccine Astrazeneca, Oxford

So far 11 out of 140 coronavirus COVID-19 vaccine candidates have entered the human trials phase in the world. As per the latest information, one of the leading candidates is AZD1222 developed by Jenner Institute of University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, the British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, England. Another probable COVID-19 vaccine candidate is the MRNA-1273 vaccine developed by Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Washington, and taken up for production by the US-based Moderna pharmaceutical. However, both these firms have already signed an agreement with Indian manufacturers for the production of the COVID-19 vaccines.