Coronavirus vaccine might take months or years to develop
Everyone is hoping that a vaccine to protect human beings from contracting the Covid-19 will be forthcoming soon. International news reports however indicate that it normally take years, if not decades, to develop a new vaccine.
In the event of Covid-19 the world is waiting with bated breath for scientists to develop a vaccine in a much shorter space of time. The international edition of The Telegraph reports that researchers hope to achieve the same amount of work in only a few months.
Conservative estimates indicate that a vaccine is likely to become available by mid-2021.
Though laudable there are no guarantees it will work.
Four coronaviruses already circulate in human beings. They cause common cold symptoms and no vaccines have been developed for any of them.
At present about 80 groups around the world are researching vaccines and some are now entering clinical trials.
The first human trial for a vaccine was announced last month by scientists in Seattle in the USA.
Australian scientists have begun injecting ferrets with two potential vaccines. It is the first comprehensive pre-clinical trial involving animals, and the researchers hope to test humans by the end of April.
University of Oxford researchers are aiming to have a million doses of a vaccine by September, and are starting human trials.
However, no-one knows how effective any of these vaccines will be.
Trials are important as the vaccine must be safe for human use.
Clinical trials will also need to show the vaccine provokes an immune response which would protect people from getting sick.
Producing the vaccine on a huge scale at affordable prices must be developed for the billions of potential doses needed around the world.
One health authorities have given the green light for the use of vaccines in humans and it is mass produces, the logistics inoculating people around the globe will pose huge challenges.
It is hard to know how many people will actually have to be vaccinated without knowing how effective the vaccine is going to be.
It is thought that 60 to70 per cent of people needed to be immune to the virus in order to stop it spreading easily. This is known as herd immunity. Source: The Telegraph
Conservative estimates indicate that a vaccine is likely to become available by mid-2021.
Though laudable there are no guarantees it will work.
Four coronaviruses already circulate in human beings. They cause common cold symptoms and no vaccines have been developed for any of them.
At present about 80 groups around the world are researching vaccines and some are now entering clinical trials.
The first human trial for a vaccine was announced last month by scientists in Seattle in the USA.
Australian scientists have begun injecting ferrets with two potential vaccines. It is the first comprehensive pre-clinical trial involving animals, and the researchers hope to test humans by the end of April.
University of Oxford researchers are aiming to have a million doses of a vaccine by September, and are starting human trials.
However, no-one knows how effective any of these vaccines will be.
Trials are important as the vaccine must be safe for human use.
Clinical trials will also need to show the vaccine provokes an immune response which would protect people from getting sick.
Producing the vaccine on a huge scale at affordable prices must be developed for the billions of potential doses needed around the world.
One health authorities have given the green light for the use of vaccines in humans and it is mass produces, the logistics inoculating people around the globe will pose huge challenges.
It is hard to know how many people will actually have to be vaccinated without knowing how effective the vaccine is going to be.
It is thought that 60 to70 per cent of people needed to be immune to the virus in order to stop it spreading easily. This is known as herd immunity. Source: The Telegraph
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