Coronavirus: Vaccine, the Last Fortress Against COVID-19

2020-06-05

Since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was found, it have been more than half year. And till now, coronavirus are spreading in the world beyond the original imagination of most country governments and leaders. And the confirmed numbers keeping growing up, and no any good and effective medicals were developed and found at this time. No one can tell when is the end of the pandemic, and where is the hope of the life? Every one is anxious to get back to the normal life, go out, and return to work, without any constraints as usual. Protests are getting more and more seriously all over the west world, which would be an exit of anxious mood.

Hydroxychloroquine

Hydroxychloroquine was ever strongly recommended by US president Trump, and no one knows if the manufacture of Hydroxychloroquine is supporter, donors and investors of Trump team. Despite of this, Hydroxychloroquine was proved and confirmed not work for COVID-19 by WHO, USA CDC and more healthy organizations.

Hydroxychloroquine have been confirmed as one of a humiliation of Trump. And the faithful follower of Trump, the Brazil president still insist to Hydroxychloroquine while Trump has threw it away.

Race of COVID-19 Vaccine

As of May 11, the official website of the World Health Organization has filed 110 new coronavirus vaccines under development, 8 of which have entered clinical trials. Among the 8 vaccines that have entered clinical trials, 4 are from the Chinese research and development team, 3 are from the United States team, and one is from the United Kingdom. The technology platforms used are non-replicating viral vectors, RNA, inactivated vaccines and DNA.

Regarding the left 102 registered vaccines that have not yet entered clinical trials, more technology platforms are used including DNA, non-replicating viral vectors, protein subunits, replicating viral vectors, RNA, etc. Among them, 9 are DNA technology platform vaccines, 13 are non-replicating viral vectors, 38 are protein subunits, 12 are replicating viral vectors, and 14 are RNA technology platforms. Other adopted technology platforms include inactivated vaccines, live attenuated viruses, Viroid particles, etc.

China and the United States are still in the head of COVID-19 vaccine R&D competition.

Five candidate pharmaceutical factories selected to produce COVID-19 vaccines in the United States

The New York Times quoted senior officials as saying on the 3rd that the Trump administration has selected five pharmaceutical companies as possible candidates for the production of a new coronavirus vaccine.

The five companies include Moderna, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Johnson, and Merck & Co.

New York Times reported that the selected pharmaceutical companies will be able to obtain additional government funding, financial and logistics support to assist in the implementation of clinical trials.

There is currently no approved new coronavirus vaccine yet.

AstraZeneca secures Supply of 2 billion Oxford University’s new Coronavirus vaccines

AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) said on Thursday that the company signed a new agreement to expand the global distribution of coronavirus vaccines developed by researchers at Oxford University. Previously, AstraZeneca signed a supply agreement to retain the first batch of vaccines in the United Kingdom and the United States.

The British pharmaceutical manufacturer said that under one of the agreements, the company will receive $750 million to produce and distribute approximately 300 million vaccines through a global distribution system established by an international foundation. According to another agreement, AstraZeneca will provide 1 billion vaccines to low- and middle-income countries.

The company said that it has ensured a total production capacity of 2 billion Oxford vaccines, and the vaccine is undergoing clinical trials.

Advantages and disadvantages of rapid development of new coronavirus vaccines

Research in 2013 showed that it takes an average of 10 years to develop a vaccine, but with the spread of the new coronavirus worldwide, many pharmaceutical companies and scientific research institutions are hoping to quickly develop the new coronavirus vaccine to help society return to normal. But the development process is too fast may also pay a price. Daniela Hernandez of The Wall Street Journal explained the ways in which vaccine development can be accelerated, while pointing out that safety, effectiveness and repeatability are important constants in vaccine development. However, even if a pharmaceutical company successfully launches a new coronavirus vaccine within two years, there is still a problem in producing and distributing it to everyone in the world. It is still unknown how long the immune effect of the vaccine can last. At the same time, the biggest obstacle facing the new crown vaccine is that many People may refuse to be vaccinated.

Only half of Germans are willing to get vaccination of COVID-19

Entrusted by the German News Agency, the polling agency YouGov conducted a survey on how the Germans view the new coronavirus vaccine. The total number of respondents was 2056. The survey shows that only one in two Germans are willing to take the initiative to vaccinate after the new coronavirus vaccine is developed; a quarter of the respondents said that if the vaccine is developed, they may consider vaccination.

Among the respondents, men are more inclined to receive vaccines than women.

There is a general disagreement among Germans on whether it is necessary to receive the new coronavirus vaccine. 44% of the interviewees think it is necessary, but 40% of the interviewees totally disagree.

EU plans to spend big money to book new coronavirus vaccine

A number of European Union officials disclosed that the EU is preparing to fund a €2.4 billion emergency fund to order a new coronavirus vaccine under development.

Reuters reported on the 4th that several EU officials were sources, and representatives of EU member states discussed the move at a meeting on the 3rd; the EU is worried that if it does not “hand out” in advance, it will not be able to obtain the vaccine quickly, so it is ready to take risks, At the same time, it is worried that after the pharmaceutical companies have developed effective vaccines, the output will be difficult to meet the needs of the EU.

An EU official said that many of the new coronavirus vaccines being developed may end up unsuccessful, but even if the EU loses money due to reservations, this move is “necessary.”

Reuters reported that in addition to ordering vaccines, this fund is also used to increase vaccine production capacity.

The Ministry of Health of the Netherlands announced on the 3rd that the Netherlands, France, Germany and Italy have formed a “vaccine alliance” and are in consultation with pharmaceutical companies to accelerate the production of new coronavirus vaccines in Europe.