According to the World Health Organization, at least 70 potential coronavirus vaccines are currently being developed, with 3 of them already undergoing clinical trials.
On April 11, WHO released an updated list of vaccination measures to help stop the coronavirus. Bloomberg News reported this earlier.
As the virus continues to spread, infecting more than 1.9 million people worldwide, researchers are looking to develop vaccines.
A range of organizations are involved in these research efforts, from pharmaceutical giants and tiny biotech companies to academic centers and non-profit groups.
Developing a new vaccine is typically expensive, complex and time-consuming, requiring hundreds of millions of dollars and many years of testing to determine if a vaccine is safe and effective.
Despite the current pandemic being the third outbreak of coronavirus in the 21st century – the first of which are SARS and MERS – there are still no working coronavirus vaccines.
Drug manufacturers and healthcare professionals hope to significantly shorten this time frame due to the severity of the current situation.
Chinese biotech company CanSino is already working on a second phase of human trials for its experimental vaccine, and US biotech startups Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Moderna have begun human trials.
Large corporations such as Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi are also involved in vaccine development.
Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said it takes the US at least 12-18 months to see a coronavirus vaccine, and some experts warn that even trying to meet that deadline is a risky plan that could have unpleasant consequences.
New vaccines typically need to be tested first in the laboratory, then in animals, and then among a small group of people for safety, before finally being tested in large groups to see if they can prevent disease.
Sources: Photo: (NIAID-RML)
