{"id":40355,"date":"2020-06-09T15:21:05","date_gmt":"2020-06-09T15:21:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/virusreports.net\/how-long-before-a-coronavirus-vaccine-is-ready-heres-the-latest-update\/"},"modified":"2020-06-09T15:21:05","modified_gmt":"2020-06-09T15:21:05","slug":"how-long-before-a-coronavirus-vaccine-is-ready-heres-the-latest-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/virusreports.net\/how-long-before-a-coronavirus-vaccine-is-ready-heres-the-latest-update\/","title":{"rendered":"How long before a coronavirus vaccine is ready? Here’s the latest update"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Experts are hopeful that a vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 virus will become available sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

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\n For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO website<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

Coronavirus<\/a><\/span> cases are still\u00a0increasing in a third of US states<\/a>, according to new data\u00a0reported over the weekend<\/a> — from South Carolina<\/a> and Florida<\/a> to Arizona<\/a> and Illinois<\/a> — raising concern that a second wave of the virus<\/a><\/span> could soon be building up momentum. For people in the US who’ve grown weary of\u00a0lockdowns<\/a><\/span>, social distancing<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and the polarizing issue of face masks<\/a><\/span>, a vaccine can’t arrive soon enough.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, some or all of the measures meant to curb the spread<\/a>\u00a0of COVID-19 could return, even as\u00a0schools begin to open and<\/a><\/span>\u00a0sports tentatively resume<\/a><\/span>. (Although large-scale events like music festivals, tech conferences<\/a><\/span> and the Olympics<\/a><\/span>\u00a0continue to be on hold.) What will it take to get a coronavirus vaccine?<\/p>\n

The answer, unfortunately, is time. Vaccines typically take years — sometimes even decades — to develop, approve, manufacture and\u00a0distribute globally<\/a>. That said, there have never been so many doctors and scientists<\/a> working this hard and fast at it. Just six months since SARS-CoV-2 was first discovered,\u00a0at least half a dozen vaccine development projects<\/a>\u00a0are\u00a0already reporting encouraging progress<\/a>, with many more in development.<\/p>\n

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Keep track of the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease\u00a0Dr. Anthony Fauci<\/a>\u00a0said he expects the US will have “hundreds of millions of doses” of vaccine ready to deploy by early 2021 in a June 2 interview<\/a> with Journal of the American Medical Association<\/a>\u00a0Editor in Chief Dr. Howard Bauchner<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fauci said he is personally working with four or five different vaccine projects that are either in human trials or about to be. One of those projects, spearheaded by Massachusetts-based biotech company\u00a0Moderna<\/a>, has announced it will enter broad Phase 3 clinical trials this July, which could include as many as 30,000 human participants, according to Fauci. Other vaccine candidates, including those from Oxford University and AstraZeneca<\/a>, Pfizer<\/a> and Chinese vaccine developer Sinovac<\/a> aren’t far behind.<\/p>\n

One more note before we get underway. This article is updated frequently as new information comes to light, and is intended to be a general overview, not a source of medical advice. If you’re seeking more information about coronavirus testing,\u00a0here’s how to find a testing site<\/a><\/span>\u00a0near you. Here’s\u00a0how to know if you qualify for a test<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0how to get an at-home coronavirus test<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/strong>:\u00a0What it will take for life to return to normal after lockdown ends<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\tThe presumed frontrunners: Moderna and Oxford University <\/h2>\n

Moderna<\/a>\u00a0has been making headlines for its coronavirus vaccine development — both positive and negative. Early reports that Moderna’s first trials showed promise for immunity<\/a> caused Moderna’s stock to soar<\/a>. Soon after, however, scientists cast doubt on the company’s data<\/a>, causing the same stocks to falter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Moderna is a beneficiary of the US\u00a0Food and Drug Administration’s program to fast-track vaccines<\/a>. The\u00a0fast-track process<\/a>\u00a0expedites approval by allowing select labs to submit their review process by phases, rather than submitting all sections of the application at once, which is the usual way. The company ran\u00a0Phase 1 clinical trials<\/a>\u00a0and reported\u00a0preliminary data that it says supports the move<\/a>\u00a0to a larger Phase 2 trial, which is currently ongoing. Phase 3 is reportedly slated for July. You can learn more about Moderna’s vaccine candidate,\u00a0mRNA-1273<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Another vaccine is under development at\u00a0Oxford University<\/a>\u00a0in the UK. Scientists there say that vaccine\u00a0could be ready by the fall of 2020<\/a>. Oxford is working with pharmaceutical giant\u00a0AstraZeneca<\/a>. Their vaccine candidate is slated to begin\u00a0simultaneous Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials<\/a> this month.<\/p>\n

Scientists say in a paper that\u00a0results from Oxford’s trials<\/a>\u00a0on mice and rhesus monkeys are\u00a0mixed<\/a>, however, speculating that humans who eventually take the vaccine\u00a0might still be able to spread<\/a>\u00a0the virus. You can read more about this effort, called\u00a0ChAdOx1 nCoV-19<\/a>, at AstraZeneca’s website. <\/p>\n

\tWill there be just one vaccine for everyone? <\/h2>\n

We won’t know for a long time, but Fauci has suggested that it might take\u00a0several different vaccines<\/a>\u00a0made and distributed by different labs in order to effectively eradicate COVID-19 from the planet. Fauci co-authored a\u00a0paper about vaccines published May 11 in the journal Science<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Coronavirus reopenings: How it looks as lockdowns ease around the world<\/h2>\n

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\tVaccines: How long it usually takes to make them <\/h2>\n

A vaccine is a medical treatment that protects you against a disease like the coronavirus or smallpox<\/a>. For a deeper dive into how vaccines work, check out\u00a0this in-depth coronavirus treatment explainer<\/a><\/span> by CNET’s Science Editor Jackson Ryan. The short and sweet of it is that a vaccine tricks your body into thinking it’s already had the disease, so your body’s natural defense — the immune system —\u00a0builds antibodies against it<\/a><\/span>. Then, if you were to become infected, your body would call upon the antibodies to fight the virus before you feel sick.<\/p>\n

Vaccines typically take about\u00a010 to 15 years to develop<\/a>. That’s in part because any new medical treatment needs to be thoroughly tested for safety before it can be distributed to millions or billions of people. The\u00a0mumps vaccine took four years<\/a>, which is widely considered the fastest vaccine approval in the history of infectious disease. <\/p>\n

However, talking to JAMA editor in chief Howard Bauchner<\/a>, Fauci said the US government is backing efforts to start manufacturing doses while clinical trials are still ongoing. That means, if and when those vaccines do get approved, there will already be a store of doses ready to distribute nationally.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong>\u00a0Need a pulse oximeter? These models are in stock starting at $24<\/a><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n

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Why a vaccine may be key to ending the pandemic<\/h2>\n

Most health experts predict that the virus won’t stop spreading until 60% to 70% of the world’s\u00a0population is immune<\/a><\/span>, and they say the only way to reach that level of immunity without a\u00a0monumental death toll<\/a> is through vaccines. Such is the opinion of\u00a0Carl T. Bergstrom<\/a>, a biology professor at the University of Washington and\u00a0Natalie Dean<\/a>, an assistant professor of biostatistics at the University of Florida, in a joint editorial\u00a0published in the New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\tWhat else is happening with coronavirus vaccine development <\/h2>\n

There are currently over 100 vaccines reportedly under development in countries around the world, including the US, UK, Germany, Japan and China, with 13 reportedly already in clinical trials<\/a> as of last month. That means there are\u00a0more scientists working harder and faster on finding a vaccine<\/a>\u00a0than ever before in the history of pandemics. But even if one or more of the vaccines now in the works turns out to be effective,\u00a0the FDA approval process<\/a>\u00a0typically takes a year or longer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This April, the White House began organizing “Operation Warp Speed<\/a>,” according to Bloomberg, a sort of coronavirus vaccine task force that has identified\u00a014 vaccine projects<\/a>\u00a0that it will focus on fast-tracking. The “Warp Speed” project itself,\u00a0which the White House acknowledged<\/a> during an April press briefing, has a stated goal of readying\u00a0300 million doses of vaccine<\/a>\u00a0to be available by January 2021, which coincides with Fauci’s estimation.<\/p>\n

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Scientists from around the world are working toward developing a vaccine. So far 12 projects have either started or will soon start clinical trials.<\/p>\n

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\tHow good are the odds for finding a vaccine? <\/h2>\n

Statistically, only about 6% of vaccine candidates ever make it through to market, according to a Reuters special report<\/a>, and not just because they don’t work. There’s a whole litany of problems that could cancel even a promising candidate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Take, for example, what happened when scientists tried to develop a vaccine for SARS —\u00a0it backfired<\/a> and actually made people more susceptible to the disease. The same thing happened with a\u00a0vaccine for Dengue fever<\/a>. To make matters worse, coronaviruses are a large class of viruses and\u00a0so far there are no vaccines<\/a> for any of them. <\/p>\n

However, this particular coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2<\/a><\/span>, has some unique traits that may help researchers working on a vaccine. For example, some viruses, like the flu, mutate quickly and often, which is why there’s a new flu vaccine every year. Early evidence\u00a0suggests that the coronavirus doesn’t appear to do that<\/a>. Although\u00a0some researchers have hypothesized<\/a> that a more contagious strain has developed, others aren’t so sure<\/a>. Either way, it’s thought that the virus has not yet mutated significantly enough<\/a> to disrupt vaccine development, nor is it expected to, though it’s too soon to say for certain, and there are still many unknowns about the virus’ behavior. <\/p>\n

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Fighting coronavirus: COVID-19 tests, vaccine research, masks, ventilators and more<\/h2>\n

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\tWhat steps do vaccines have to go through to get approved?
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Rules and regulations vary by country, but, generally speaking, most industrialized nations have similar protocols for approving a vaccine. The following path is how vaccines are approved in the US under the FDA<\/a>:<\/p>\n