Coronavirus vaccine update: Pfizer shot said to cause face pain, hangover

Coronavirus vaccine update: Almost a year after the highly contagious coronavirus hit the world, hopes of getting an effective vaccine soon have been raised with Pfizer, Moderna, Russia's Sputnik V, India's 'Covaxin' and the Oxford vaccine showing promising results at different stages of trials. The global Covid-19 tally has surged past 52 million and 1.2 million had died so far. The US, which is the worst-hit country, plans to start distribution of vaccines by December. Along with the US, India, France, Russia and Brazil are struggling to curb the spread of the virus. 

Covid vaccine progress

1. India coronavirus update: SII and ICMR complete enrolment of phase 3 trials for Oxford vaccine Covishield

2. Canada coronavirus vaccine progress

Canadian drug developer Medicago said a combination of its experimental Covid-19 vaccine and GlaxoSmithKline's vaccine booster produced virus-neutralising antibodies in all healthy volunteers in an early-stage study. The company, which is backed by Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma and tobacco giant Philip Morris, said it planned to move into mid-to-late-stage trials with a lower dose version of its vaccine, along with the GSK adjuvant.

3. US aims to distribute Pfizer's Covid vaccine from Dec

The US is planning to start vaccinating the "most vulnerable" from next month if Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine candidate is quickly approved by the drug regulators, US Health Secretary Alex Azar has said. "In December we will be focusing on vaccinating the most vulnerable and then by the end of January we will have enough for all of our healthcare workers and first responders," Azar said.

4. Brazil says Chinese vaccine trial can resume

Brazil health regulator Anvisa on Wednesday allowed the resumption of late-stage clinical trials for China's Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine, which had been suspended due to the death of a study subject registered in Sao Paulo by suicide.

5. Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine 'very promising'

Pfizer said on Monday that its Covid-19 vaccine was more than 90 per cent effective. The following day, the World Health Organization chief said that WHO hoped to have a Covid-19 vaccine by year-end and that Pfizer's experimental remedy was "a very promising one", with more expected.

6. Moderna coronavirus vaccine update

Moderna Inc said on Wednesday it was on track to report early data from a late-stage trial of its experimental coronavirus vaccine later this month, two days after successful interim data from rival Pfizer Inc’s vaccine. A high degree of effectiveness for the vaccine would make sense as it was "almost identical" to the Pfizer shot, Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said at a conference organised by the Financial Times.

"It may not be 95 per cent, it might be 90 per cent, or 96 per cent, or 89 per cent, but it is going to be up there," he said.

7. India coronavirus vaccine update

The trial of Bharat Biotech-developed coronavirus vaccine candidate 'Covaxin' entered the third phase at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on Tuesday and Vice-Chancellor Professor Tariq Mansoor got himself registered to be the first volunteer for the same.

Covaxin Phase-III trial was aimed at evaluating the safety and efficacy of the coronavirus vaccine study led in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Bharat Biotech, a release from AMU stated.

8. Coronavirus vaccine cost: BioNTech to price vaccine below market rates

BioNTech, the first in the race to disclose interim data from a large-scale trial showing a highly effective Covid-19 vaccine, is planning to price the two-shot regimen below "typical market rates" and would differentiate pricing between countries and regions.

9. China coronavirus vaccine update

China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) said on Wednesday that the data from large-scale, late-stage clinical trials for its unit's Covid-19 vaccine were "better than expected". Sinopharm's unit China National Biotec Group (CNBG) has moved two vaccine candidates into Phase-III clinical trials outside China in multiple countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt involving more 50,000 participants in total.

The trials were nearing their end, Sinopharm said in a statement on Chinese social media WeChat.

10. Russia coronavirus vaccine progress: Sputnik V vaccine 92 per cent 'effective'

Russia's Sputnik V vaccine has shown 92 per cent efficacy in preventing Covid-19, according to interim trial results. The calculation is based on the 20 confirmed Covid-19 cases split between vaccinated individuals and those who received the placebo, said Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). The efficacy of the vaccine, developed by the Gamalaya Centre, was demonstrated on the basis of a first interim analysis obtained 21 days after the first injection.

Post-registration trials of Russia's second coronavirus vaccine are expected to start on Sunday.