WHY A CORONAVIRUS VACCINE IS ESSENTIAL AND AN EXPLANATION OF THE PROGRESS THAT IS BEING MADE IN ITS DEVELOPMENT
HILLARY ALTES
HEALTH HEAD
OVERVIEW
The coronavirus has changed society. It has caused most citizens to make significant modifications to their lifestyle which has led to a common desire for normalcy. As the pandemic progresses, with an absence of concrete solutions for the global issues caused by COVID-19, many are seeking comfort in the notion that a vaccine will be developed. A vaccine is essential in combating the coronavirus and, in doing so, reviving the economy while creating the potential to return to one’s previous lifestyle. A vaccine would result in fewer people becoming infected and losing their lives, making it possible to transition from the quarantine to a situation more akin to what is considered an “ordinary” way of life.
HOW VACCINES WORK
To emphasize why a vaccine is so necessary, I will be providing information about how vaccines themselves work as well as how they are developed before delving into the details of what is being done to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Normally given through injections, vaccines often contain a weak or dead form of the disease that they are attempting to prevent. When one’s immune system is introduced to the weaker germs, it produces antibodies. If the person who received the shot were to come into contact with the disease, their body would know how to fight it from its previous experience. That person would therefore be immune and they either would not be able to get sick with the virus entirely. Alternatively, if they did come down with the illness, it would be much less severe. In terms of COVID-19, a vaccine would mean that the virus wouldn’t be able to infect as many people, so its spread would slow.
THE STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
The World Health Organization claims that there are over a hundred different coronavirus vaccines being developed worldwide. Each of these offers a possibility of medical and societal progress, but it will most likely take anywhere from twelve to eighteen months for it to be publicly available after its creation because it needs to be extensively tested. That being said, many companies are aiming to have their vaccines fully developed by the end of 2020. To understand why the creation of a vaccine is such a long process, I have detailed the stages of vaccine development under normal circumstances.
The exploratory stage. This is the start of the process where lab research is conducted, and it often lasts at least two years.
The preclinical stage. In this period of the vaccine’s development, animal testing and other kinds of laboratory procedures are used to confirm its safety. This stage usually takes about a year.
Clinical development. This is a three-phase process of human testing that often lasts at least five years.
Approval and regulatory review. The FDA and CDC must sign off on the safety of the vaccine in order for it to be manufactured.
After the vaccine progresses through these stages, it can be manufactured. Frequent quality control checks will be conducted to ensure its safety. With the coronavirus vaccine, the intended timetable for its production is much more accelerated than the one described above. Already, various companies have begun the process.
THE MOST PROMISING RESEARCHERS
As previously stated, about a hundred companies have begun researching and developing possible vaccines for COVID-19. Here is a breakdown of three of the more prominent vaccines that are further in their development.
The company Novavax recently received a grant of up to $384 million from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations to fund vaccine testing through phase two and to manufacture the potential vaccine on a much larger scale. The company is aiming to manufacture about a hundred million doses by the end of 2020 and at least a billion by the end of 2021.
The Moderna vaccine is another especially promising candidate. The drugmaker Moderna Inc. recently held their first study on the effects of their experimental coronavirus vaccine on humans and the results were overwhelmingly positive. The test itself was conducted on eight healthy volunteers and the vaccine provoked a strong immune response from them while also having minimal negative effects. These outcomes suggest that Moderna’s vaccine is safe and that it may have an ability to protect people from the virus. However, the vaccine must be tested in much larger groups of people to see if it will successfully function on a global scale. The technology within the vaccine stems from mRNA, which is genetic material from the virus. A key advantage of this vaccine is that it can be quickly adapted for each new viral threat that could stem from the coronavirus if it mutates because it uses a genetic framework.
Oxford University is also working to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. Their vaccine is made from a weaker version of the adenovirus, which is a common cold virus that can affect chimpanzees. It has been genetically modified so it cannot grow in humans. The reasoning behind this approach is that the adenovirus contains the same genetic code that the protein spikes on the coronavirus have. In theory, the body would recognize and become immune to that protein and the virus would be unable to enter a vaccinated person’s cells. This vaccine is being tested on over a thousand healthy participants ages 18 to 55 who have not tested positive for COVID-19 in the past. Their symptoms were tracked with a diary and blood testing for three weeks after they received the vaccine. If the vaccine proves to be a success, almost 30 million doses of it would be available to the United Kingdom.
CONCLUSION
While many are hopeful due to the previously mentioned progress in the development of a possible vaccine, a few things need to happen for it to be effective. The vaccines themselves would have to pass through extensive testing and regulations, which takes time. The previously mentioned companies are doing their best to make progress on an accelerated timetable, but some things cannot be rushed. Additionally, an important aspect of the vaccine’s success lies in herd immunity. 60-70% of the population would have to be vaccinated to create this herd immunity, and there would have to be a way to mass produce the vaccines on a huge scale for that many people to receive them. Despite these challenges, the vaccine is essential. This is due to both its possible impact on the lifestyles of many and its future implications. Even if the current pandemic is contained, there is a possibility that the virus is seasonal. Because of that, a vaccine would be fundamental in preventing a surge of cases during the winter of 2021.
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