It feels like our only hope against coronavirus, so…when will a COVID-19 vaccine be ready?
Experts explain the development timeline from start to finish.
First of all, whats the deal with the Moderna Therapeutics vaccine?
Thanks to the vaccine, your body learns how to effectively fight off something that is otherwise super dangerous.
The full study results have not been released, so the following is based on the companys press release.
(Other data from the other study participants has yet to be released or published in a journal.)
Alan Rothman, MD, is the head of the laboratory of viral immunity and pathogenesis at the University of Rhode Island.
The potential vaccine currently making headlines comes from researchers at Oxford University and the drug company AstraZeneca.
Its Amazing How Its All Connected.
(Reported side effects include muscle aches and chills, per NPR.)
However, the trialswere paused briefly in Septemberafter a participant became seriously ill.
The trials resumed in October.
The Lancet also published clinical trial results for another vaccine from Chinese pharmaceutical company CanSino.
How promising are these vaccines, exactly?
These studies and results are just the beginning of the vaccine process.
This is a phase one study, says Dr. Rothman of the Moderna vaccine results.
Alan Rothman, MD, is the head of the laboratory of viral immunity and pathogenesis at the University of Rhode Island.
Dr. Chackerian agrees, going so far as calling this phase the safety phase.
In Dr. Chackerians mind, there are two more reasons to approach any newborn vaccine with a critical eye.
Right now, researchers and doctors arent convinced theyre the best way.
This is the same issue we run into with people whove recovered from coronavirus.
Thats just something that were going to have to see over time, says Dr. Chackerian.
Other vaccines are less good at doing that, so the antibodies go away much faster.
Why are phase two and phase three of vaccine testing so important?
Moderna got some adjustments from their phase one trial.
Whens the soonest we might see the vaccine?
Both doctors say that placing a timeline on the COVID-19 vaccine is a near-impossible task.
As past vaccine development tells us, that timeline from research to final approval really varies.
Meanwhile, he says themumps vaccinetook only about four years to develop in the 1960s.
Im actually very optimistic that this vaccine can be approved faster.
He feels hopeful that a vaccine could be developed faster than the12-to-18 month predictionthats been circulating in the news.
Dr. Rothman, on the other hand, approaches the timeline with a bit more skepticism.
And if historys any indication, one of them will find one.
This story was originally published on May 21, 2020.
It was updated on November 9, 2020.
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