Coronavirus vaccine: Until when we have to wait?
About Coronavirus(COVID -19):
The coronavirus spreads from one person to another through respiratory droplets released when someone affected by virus coughs, sneezes, or talks. Coronavirus causes severe acute respiratory syndrome(SARS) and middle east respiratory syndrome(MERS) and illness such as common cold, cough, and fever.What sort of progress is being made?
Currently, there is no vaccine to prevent coronavirus infection with the COVID-19 virus, but researchers are racing to create one.
Beijing: Phase 2 started by Chinese researchers. The Institute of Medical Biology at Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (IMBCAMS) said on Sunday, human trial of a possible coronavirus vaccine in efforts to further assess the effectiveness.
Moderna Inc, China's Sinovac Biotech and UK's Oxford-AstraZeneca are into later stages of the trial.
Geneva(WHO): “At the moment we do not have a proven vaccine but if we are lucky, there will be one of two successful candidates before the end of this year and 2 billion doses by the end of next year,” WHO Chief Scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan said while addressing the media from Geneva.
Israel: The Israel Institute for Biological Research has claimed it had completed successful coronavirus vaccine trials on rodents, according to a report in The Times of Israel.
London: GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) chief medical officer Thomas Breuer said that they have entered the clinical trial stage and prefer a slow and steady approach for the coronavirus vaccine.
Germany: CureVac said the first result of its vaccine will be available by September probably.
Why does it take so long?
Firstly a vaccine has to be tested in animals. This stage is called pre-clinical. Once it is confirmed that the vaccine is safe and effective the testing phase goes to the next level. This process may take around 4-5 months. The next level is phase 1 which evaluates the safety of the vaccine in humans. this stage is to determine the side effects of vaccination. Phase 2 is to trial the vaccine on healthy volunteers(around 100). Then comes phase 3 where the vaccination is tested on more number of healthy volunteers(around 1000). Phase 4 is to monitor the efficiency, safety, and behavior of vaccine in a large group of people.
How to protect yourself from COVID-19:
- Avoid close contact.
- Wear face covering(Face-mask) in public places.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
- use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol
- Stay home if you're sick.
- If you have a chronic medical condition check with your doctor.
Potential ways that cause COVID-19 spreads?
- Take away food from restaurants.
- Grocery store products
- Public sitting places
- furniture surfaces
- COVID-19 can live up to four hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard, and up to three days on stainless steel and plastic surfaces.
- Close contact with people.
Corona Vaccine for dogs:
The common symptoms of coronavirus on dogs are fever, vomiting and loss of appetite. Corona primarily attacks the intestinal tract in dogs. It is found that the virus spread through feces from dog to dog. Dogs are lucky because canine corona vaccination is available for dogs in most of the countries, but it is not found to be the best vaccination against coronavirus so far. It means that it is not recommended among pet dogs. Please consult the veterinarian as they are the best to decide. It simply means veterinarians will not allow coronavirus vaccination if your dog doesn't have a good immune system to respond to vaccination. Researchers are still working on developing a better version of coronavirus vaccination.