WHO'S DEVELOPING COVID-19 VACCINE?

 

Who's developing the COVID-19 vaccine? How effective are they & when can we get them?

How effective is the new COVID-19 vaccine?

Pfizer and BioNTech have reported that their vaccine. BNT162b2 has been more than 90% effective in late-stage trials.

India too is conducting Phase 2/3 trails of the AstraZeneca vaccine(Covidshield). Serum Institute of India said it was aiming to produce 100 million (10 crore ) doses by December.

What are RNA vaccines?

The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines use the same technology, based on mRNA. The RNA technology uses a tiny fragment of the virus' genetic code. This starts making part of the virus inside the body , which the immune system recognizes as foreign.

Has this type vaccine ever been used before?

RNA vaccine have been approved for use in humans. The vaccine will be considered by regulatory agencies around the world, and they will decide whether the jab can be approved for use.

Do any of these vaccines have side effects?

Moderna has shown results with 94.5% protection. Its data revealed that side effects were generally short-lived and there were no significant safety concerns, while no serious Covid cases developed among trial participants.

As for Pfizer's vaccine, the company 's study enrolled 43,538 participants with no serious safety concerns being observed.

Moderna vs Pfizer: Who will have the vaccine first?

Based on current projections, Pfizer expects to produce globally up to 50 million vaccine doses in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion in 2021.

When can we expect to get a vaccine?

According to Plizer, "It's important to note that we cannot apply for FDA Emergency Use Authorization based on these efficacy resuts alone."

India's SII also announced completion of enrolment of phase 3 clinical trials and said ICMR and SII have further collaborated for clinical development COVAVAX (Novavax) developed by Novavax, USA.

Which distributors of the vaccines is India in talks with?

While the Indian government had held an "initial meeting" with representatives of Pfizer's Indian subsidiary, there has been no major development.

India is majorly focused on 5 other COVID-19 vaccine candidates : Serum Institute of India, Bharat Biotech, Zydus Cadila, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories and Biological E.

Source: The Indian Express, plizer.com, seruminstitute.com, BBC