Global update on Coronavirus Vaccine.
                     Global Update on Coronavirus Vaccine
The global vaccine race
• Hundreds of people are rolling up their sleeves in countries across 
the world to be injected with experimental vaccines that might 
stop Covid-19, spurring hope - maybe unrealistic - that an end to 
the pandemic may arrive sooner than anticipated. About 100 
research groups are pursuing vaccines with nearly a dozen in early 
stages of human trials or poised to start.
Source: Google Images
The hard truth
• It's a crowded field, but researchers say that only increases the odds 
that a few might overcome the many obstacles that remain. It is not 
a competition against each other, but we are in a race against a 
pandemic virus, which needs as many players in that race as 
possible, because the hard truth is there's no way to predict if any 
vaccine will work safely
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The pledge
• European leaders have pledged support for a plan to raise €7.5bn to 
find a coronavirus vaccine in a jointly signed open letter. The 
promises come ahead of an online pledging conference, where UK 
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will urge countries to "pull together" to 
and will also confirm the UK's pledge of £388m for vaccine research, 
testing and treatment.
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The world is united
• Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, French President Emmanuel 
Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are also among 
those who have signed up to the initiative. The conference will be 
co-hosted by the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, 
Norway, Saudi Arabia and the European Commission. The UN says a 
return to normal life will only be possible with a vaccine.
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Trials have begun
• The first cautious tests of March, when small numbers of volunteers 
got injections to check for side effects, have turned into larger 
studies in China, the U.S. and Europe to look for hints in different 
vaccine candidates. Finding out for sure if any of the vaccines work 
in the real world by testing large groups of people in areas where 
the virus is circulating is a tricky prospect in places where the virus is 
fading or they are told to stay home
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Still too early
• There are between 8-11 vaccine candidates in early stages of testing 
in China, the U.S., Britain and Germany where Pfizer Inc. and 
BionTech last week began a study in Germany that's simultaneously 
testing four different shots. More study sites are about to open in 
still other countries - and between May and July another handful of 
different vaccines is set to begin first-in-human testing
Oxford is leading
• In the worldwide race for a vaccine to stop the coronavirus, the 
laboratory sprinting fastest is at Oxford University. Most other teams 
have had to start with small clinical trials of a few hundred 
participants to demonstrate safety. But scientists at the university’s 
Jenner Institute had a head start on a vaccine, having proved in 
previous trials, including one last year against an earlier coronavirus, 
were harmless to humans.
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What is China doing?
• China's Sinovac and SinoPharm are testing "inactivated" vaccines, 
made by growing the new coronavirus and killing it. The companies 
have revealed little information about how the shots differ. But the 
technology is tried-and-true - polio shots and some types of flu 
vaccine are inactivated virus - although it's hard to scale up to 
rapidly produce millions of doses.
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A lot of methods
• A lot more methods are next in line: Vaccine made of spike protein 
nanoparticles, and even a nasal spray alternative to shots. Most 
vaccine studies so far are tracking safety and whether volunteers' 
blood shows any immune reactions. Some have jumped to larger 
numbers quickly, but there's still concern about being able to prove 
real-world protection.
Source: Google Images