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COVID-19 Vaccine Update

By / / BARDA, Bill Gates, CEPI, COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccine, hierarchy of evidence, SARS-CoV-2, vaccine development, vaccine manufacturers

Breaking News – Pfizer has asked for EUA of their COVID vaccine for children aged 5-11 years old.

How’s that COVID-19 vaccine coming along?

Are we getting close to making a vaccine to protect us against SARS-CoV-2 infections?

This is the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine from Sinovac Biotech.
This is the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine from Sinovac Biotech.

Or will a coronavirus vaccine be impossible to make???

No vaccine was ever approved for other types of cornonaviruses because even though they were made, they never got funding to undergo testing and development!
No vaccine was ever approved for other types of cornonaviruses because even though they were made, they never got funding to undergo testing and development!

Like many things, it depends on who you ask…

COVID-19 Vaccine Update

While that probably doesn’t surprise anyone, let’s take a look at what we really do know.

So far 321 236 296 COVID-19 vaccines are in development, and at least 44 63 112 have entered clinical trials, including over 40 that have entered Phase III, the last steps in vaccine development:

  • mRNA-1273 (Moderna) – has reported that their COVID-19 vaccine is 94% effective and has an EUA from the FDA and an ACIP recommendation for use in persons aged ≥18 years for the prevention of COVID-19
  • Ad5-nCoV (CanSino Biologicals)
  • INO-4800 (Inovio)
  • LV-SMENP-DC and pathogen-specific aAPC (Shenzhen Geno-Immune Medical Institute)
  • AZD1222/Covishield ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (University of Oxford/AstraZeneca) – when given as a half-dose, followed by a full dose, their vaccine showed vaccine efficacy of 90%
  • CoronaVac (Sinovac Biotech)
  • 4 different SARS-CoV-2 RNA vaccine candidates (BioNTech SE / Pfizer) – has been given emergency use authorization (EUA) for their BNT162b2 vaccine by the FDA and has been authorized in the UK, Canada, has an ACIP recommendation for use in persons aged ≥12 years for the prevention of COVID-19, is FDA approved for ≥16 years, with a booster dose authorized for high risk adults.
  • Tableted inactivated vaccine from heat inactivated from COVID-19 patients (Immunitor) – Recruiting
  • SARS-CoV-2 inactivated vaccine (Wuhan Institute of Biological Products co., LTD.)
  • SARS-CoV-2 inactivated vaccine (Sinopharm)
  • NVX-CoV2373 (Novavax)
  • Ad26.COV2.S or JNJ-78436735 (Johnson and Johnson) – has received EUA in the US
  • CureVac AG

Unfortunately, that means there is still a long way to go for some of these vaccines!

Well, at least it means the majority of people won’t be seeing a COVID-19 vaccine in the next few months. We are getting much closer to the time whenStill, more and more high risk people front line workers start to get are finally getting vaccinated though.

Even with Operation Warp Speed, the collaboration between the US Dept of Health and Human Services and a number of private firms to accelerate development of 14 vaccine candidates, making a new vaccine takes time.

And right now, we have no idea how well any of these vaccines will work and what side effects they might cause.

Discouraged?

Don’t be!

None of that is unexpected at this stage. Remember, even though it is likely hard for most folks to believe, the COVID-19 pandemic is still relatively new.

“We have good candidates now. The top ones are around seven, eight. But we have more than a hundred candidates.”

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

The other thing that is discouraging is that we are still seeing misinformation about COVID-19…

The WHO said that "no study has evaluated whether the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 confers immunity to subsequent infection by this virus in humans," but that doesn't necessarily mean that you can catch it again. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. In other words, we need to wait for the studies until we can say having antibodies means that you are immune and won't catch it again.
The WHO said that “no study has evaluated whether the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 confers immunity to subsequent infection by this virus in humans,” but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you can catch it again. As they say – Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. In other words, we need to wait for the studies until we can say having antibodies means that you are immune and won’t catch it again.

And misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines that didn’t even exist a few weeks ago!

“The MenACWY vaccine is being used as an ‘active control’ vaccine in this study, to help us understand participants’ response to ChAdOx1 nCoV-19. The reason for using this vaccine, rather than a saline control, is because we expect to see some minor side effects from the ChAdOx1 nCOV-19 vaccine such as a sore arm, headache and fever. Saline does not cause any of these side effects. If participants were to receive only this vaccine or a saline control, and went on to develop side effects, they would be aware that they had received the new vaccine. It is critical for this study that participants remain blinded to whether or not they have received the vaccine, as, if they knew, this could affect their health behaviour in the community following vaccination, and may lead to a bias in the results of the study.”

The Oxford Vaccine Centre COVID-19 Phase I Clinical Trial Explained

On the bright side, we know that once these vaccines are developed, manufacturers will be ready to make and distribute them.

Or at least some of them will…

“To bring the disease to an end, we’ll need a safe and effective vaccine. If we do everything right, we could have one in less than 18 months — about the fastest a vaccine has ever been developed. But creating a vaccine is only half the battle. To protect Americans and people around the world, we’ll need to manufacture billions of doses. (Without a vaccine, developing countries are at even greater risk than wealthy ones, because it’s even harder for them to do physical distancing and shutdowns.)

We can start now by building the facilities where these vaccines will be made. Because many of the top candidates are made using unique equipment, we’ll have to build facilities for each of them, knowing that some won’t get used. Private companies can’t take that kind of risk, but the federal government can. It’s a great sign that the administration made deals this week with at least two companies to prepare for vaccine manufacturing. I hope more deals will follow.”

Bill Gates: Here’s how to make up for lost time on covid-19

Let’s hope they do, as we will surely need a vaccine if the predictions of future waves of SARS-CoV-2 are true.

Other COVID-19 Vaccine Updates

What else is going on in terms of the COVID-19 vaccine?

And the biggest news?

We finally have COVID-19 vaccines! And are getting closer to getting more and more folks vaccinated and protected.

As Pfizer has asked the FDA to expand the ages for its COVID-19 vaccine to 12 to 15 year olds, we can likely also look for announcements of new meetings from the FDA and ACIP as they make a decision on this new age indication.

More on COVID-19 Vaccines

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