It’s been a year since novel Coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 has resulted in the outbreak of a respiratory illness which has taken the shape of a pandemic and the whole world is still struggling to figure a way to gain control.
Scientists and researchers are working around the clock to develop a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of this gigantic effort, hopefully a well functional and effective fast-tracked vaccine would be available for mass use anytime by the end of 2020 or by mid 2021.
Where we stand
First human vaccine safety trials started in March with around 55 vaccines. Presently, around 13 vaccines have reached the final phase of testing.
Veklury (remdesivir), in October has become the first drug approved by FDA for the treatment of COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older and weighing at least 40 kg, who require hospitalization. Keep in mind that this approval does not include entire population.
Another big pharmaceutical company by the name AstraZeneca with University of Oxford have press released information about their Coronavirus vaccine, Covishield (AZD1222) showing some promising outcomes. In India, Covishield is currently under trials.
Other two vaccines that gained attention were Sputnik-V and EpiVacCorona, both developed in Russia. However, experts have raised concern about the safety and effectiveness of these vaccine’s as they were approved without being tested for Phase 3 clinical trials.
Johnson & Johnson have announced that, they are expecting their vaccine to be ready for FDA approval by February.
Pfizer in association with a BioNTech a german company on Nov. 9, gathered a lot of eyeballs by claiming over 90% effectiveness.
Imperial College London, scientists at this institute are in the process of developing a RNA vaccine which acts by boosting viral protein to stimulate the immune system. The effectiveness of their vaccine will be confirmed by the end of 2020.
Convalescent plasma therapy is now being practised for quite some time in aiding the recovery of COVID-19 positive patients. The basic idea behind this therapy is that the plasma obtained from a recovered blood group matched COVID-19 patient contains antibodies that will attack this particular coronavirus.
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