The Vaccine Race Has Begun, Here Are Its Forerunners

Photo Credit:BBC

The world have embarked on a pandemic race as scientists from all parts of the continents scramble to fill the vaccine and treatment void in the fight against the deadly Coronavirus . This vaccine race holds mighty rewards with national interests and this scientists are committed to winning this race and taking home the price. This era is synonymous to an Olympic race with world leaders and citizens cheering this brave scientists.

With analysts predicting that the first nation to get a vaccine will have a boost to its economy as well as a health advantage over other, countries are already hustling for position.

Leading countries like the UK, USA, India are taking this race by the bull's horn and not taking any chances as it would be too risky to be excluded.

A looming disaster awaits developing countries who wouldn't get access to these vaccines after the race is won after richer countries hoard these vaccines.

Governments and the private sector have built in more partnerships as the stakes are high while investing heavily for this cause.

Though scientists claim that creating a vaccine is not a money-spinner. It is risky as only a very limited per cent of vaccines gets to market for public consumption.

The Race began after the WHO announced the Coronavirus as an Epidemic but listed below are facts to be updated on this interesting race:

1. Any proven treatment?

The United States disclosed the Remdesivir, an experimental antiviral drug made by Gilead Sciences Inc. which was originally used as a treatment for Ebola. The US performed a trial of more than 1,000 patients and it was reported that those who received Remdesivir recovered in an average of 11 days, while those who got a placebo recovered in 15 days.

On that same day, Chinese data was published confirming downbeat results from a drug, but that study is been halted early after researchers struggled to enroll patients.

With these trials the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are imploring Gilead Sciences Inc. to speed up production of Remdesivir as it could hasten survival of their economy and help them with this global race.

2. Any other Drug?

In March, the FDA contended issuance of two malaria drugs, Azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine, which was to be distributed and prescribed by doctors to Coronavirus patients. This move was chaperoned after President Donald Trump applauded the drugs as its benefits seemed to outweigh its potential risks. Several world governments started accepting these drugs as the world was facing the path of desperation and panic.

3.Are other treatments being tested against Coronavirus?

WHO has declared that over 100 different programs are in trials. These include everything from antiviral drugs and antibody-containing plasma from recovered patients, to traditional herbal medicine.

4. What about vaccines?

According to the World Health Organization, Over 100 experimental vaccines against the coronavirus are in development and trial stages. Top Bio-tech laboratories and Pharmaceutical companies have accepted the batons and are working to produce an effective Vaccine with help of human trials. Experimental vaccines is important and should be tested extensively to reduce the possibility that they cause harm after being rolled out, as has been the case a number of times in the past.

5. Would there be a vaccine soon?

Health experts predict that experimental vaccines would take about eighteen months to complete trials, scale up production and make a licensed product widely available. However, there is no guarantee that trials will yield a successful vaccine, as these products have not be proven effective and useful for humans. Most epidemics,like Malaria; which breaks out in various countries till date has not gotten approved vaccine. Researcher in some countries have started testing shots that is licenced to prevent tuberculosis to see if it would protect health workers as they fight the coronavirus.

6. How do scientists prove a treatment efficiency?

Though a treatment may show great results in laboratory, animal or early human experiments, it needs to go through scrupulous testing to prove its efficiency. This requires carefully structured and monitored tests known as clinical trials. Typically, these studies are designed to show that patients randomly assigned to get the drug do better than those in a “control group” who don’t, and that the results aren’t a product of chance. The trials try to subtract all the other influences and factors that might disguise the true effectiveness of the drug.

For one thing, patients often recover from viral illness on their own, or improve because of supportive care such as rest and hydration. And some really sick patients might not respond to treatment no matter how effective it is. Treatments that don’t have approval from regulators should be viewed with extreme caution.

7. How long does it take to prove efficiency?

It depends. Drugs that are already approved against one infection and shown to be safe can be tested for efficiency against another in a matter of months. Experimental drugs may take longer to test, as they have to go through initial studies to evaluate whether they are safe. Other factors that can slow the process include the supply of drug candidates and the availability of patients to test them in. The trials also have to be approved by ethics watchdogs and drug regulators.

As the world replaces its fear with the hope of this scientific race against coronavirus, i implore you to follow set out guidelines, directives and stay healthy to witness how this race ends. May the Best man win....