Sophiaa
The great Marathon for Medicine & vaccine –courtesy Covid-19
As the race intensifies to complete the human trial phase and make the Covid-19 vaccine available for the masses, the scientists and researchers are doing everything possible to fast track the process but with caution so that the stringent security and safety measures are not overlooked or bypassed at any stage. The development of the Vaccines has reached its final finishing lap and the human trial results are being closely observed by scientists worldwide.
The wait seems to be unending but the silver lining after the darkness shows us the path to victory, a sense of relief that the elusive vaccine might be finally available for humanity by the end of 2020 or early 2021.
In this Blog, we shall throw light on some of the latest developments in India and around the Globe regarding the most awaited news.
One of the prominent front runners in the Covid-19 vaccine development race is Oxford – AstraZeneca, developed by the researchers at the Oxford University – London jointly being manufactured by an Indian pharma company based in Pune city. The vaccine has been the most promising one among the others and at human trial stages, the results were very satisfactory.
The researchers claim that the jab provides double protection against the Corona Virus, both by producing antibodies and Killer T cells. Why it is a significant finding because the study has shown that the antibodies might fade away within months, but T-Cells stay for years. However, it’s yet to be established that the Vaccine is a 100% solution to the deadly virus, as the study results require a significant period of observation and time. As the vaccine promises to provide double defense in the human body it has raised hopes that the same shall continue to show satisfactory results during the large-scale human trials.
Moderna Incorporation – USA; Moderna vaccine, mRNA-1273, being developed by scientists and researchers in the United States are among the front runners that have reached near completion of advanced final stages of testing. The vaccine is being administered to thousands of volunteers at the human trial stage, is said to be right on track, and by September end the jabs are expected to be available for the masses. The United States govt has already allotted a huge sum of approx. 1.5 billion USD with the pharmaceutical company and drug maker Moderna Incorporation for the mass production and development of the vaccine.
Sputnik V Vaccine – Russia developed by the Gamaleya research institute in coordination with the Russian defense ministry has been grabbing the Global headlines recently for being the world’s first official Covid-19 Vaccine. President Vladimir Putin declared the announcement of the vaccine in a Global press release and claimed the vaccine to be safe and effective. However, there has been a lot of controversy regarding the actual safety of the jab, several countries including the United States and the WHO has raised suspicion over the completion of advanced Human trail of the vaccine. The industrial production of the vaccine is said to start from September and would be available for Free to the Russian citizens.
IIBR – Defence Forces Science Corps – Israel, under the supervision of the PMO and the defense ministry has claimed to have achieved remarkable success in the development of a highly effective Corona Virus Vaccine. The Vaccine is said to be ready and waiting to go through regulatory processes and the mass human trails shall start by next month (after the autumn holidays). The Institute of Biological Research – IIBR is currently going through the safety and efficiency trails and claims that the product is ready in hand and the preliminary trials are complete, and soon after the human trails, the mass production can start.
Covaxin by Bharat Biotech – India, in collaboration with the ICMR (Indian Council for Medical Research) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV), has announced the development of the most talked-about indigenous vaccine, researched and developed by India. The Vaccine has shown promising results during the clinical trials which are complete, and the advanced stages of human trails are under process in several cities of India. At least twelve sites were notified by the ICMR for the human clinical trials and hundreds of volunteers have been administered the jabs at various medical Institutes all over India namely AIIMS New Delhi, PGI Medical Science Institute – Rohtak, AIIMS Patna, Redkar Hospital – North Goa, and in AIIMS – Guwahati Assam. However, the vaccine courted an amount of controversy by declaring the launch date on 15th Aug in alignment with the Indian Independence Day celebrations, but later on the claim the withdrawn sighting the ongoing process of human trails and final stages of clearances by the drug regulatory board. The Made in India vaccine shall be available for the masses by the end of 2020.
Apart from Covaxin, another Indian Pharma giant Zydus Cadillac is about to complete its Phase 2 Clinical human trials of its indigenously developed vaccine and has received formal approval from the DCGI to conduct further advanced human trails. The vaccine claims to be available for mass production by 1st half of 2021.
At present there is a worldwide collaboration taking place between the countries regarding the joint development, testing ( human trails) and production of the Vaccine and Pharma giants in China, Germany ( Europe), Australia, India, UK, and the USA are in a process to determining the production and distribution channels and finishing off with the final stages of human trails and put the deadly pandemic on the check.
