At least five Covid-19 vaccines across the world are set for human trials

• Researchers say that it will take at least 12 to 18 months to prepare a vaccine to treat Coronavirus.
  
• As many as 86 teams are presently working to come up with a Covid-19 vaccine including those undergoing clinical trials.
  
• The BCG vaccine by the Serum Institute would be the first in India to undergo human trials to test if it can boost immunity against Coronavirus.
  
• If the test runs turn out to be a success, nearly 400 million doses of the vaccine will be available by the end of the year.

Coronavirus infection, which has already cost over 184,234 lives worldwide, is spreading fast and the world is now waiting with bated breath for a vaccine.

While the doctors are implementing various treatments like blood plasma, anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, researchers say that it will take at least 12 to 18 months to prepare a vaccine to treat Coronavirus. This is because the vaccines have to undergo several clinical trials to be proven safe.

86 teams working to develop Covid-19 vaccine worldwide

Scientists across the globe are now working towards a vaccine faster than ever. As many as 86 teams are presently working to come up with a Covid-19 vaccine including those undergoing clinical trials.

The first human trial was announced last month by scientists in Seattle for Coronavirus.

The BCG vaccine by the Serum Institute would be the first in India to undergo human trials in the next two weeks. The vaccine would be tested to check if it can boost immunity against Coronavirus. Ideally, it is given to newborns at the time of birth to fight tuberculosis.

If the test runs turn out to be a success, nearly 400 million doses of the vaccine will be available by the end of the year.

German Biotech company BioNTech, which has been preparing a potential vaccine since January, is proceeding with clinical trials now after the Federal Institute for Vaccines gave it a nod. It tested the initial version of the vaccine on mice, and is now set to test it on 200 humans, Financial Times reported. The idea is to roll out the vaccine in less than a year.

“This is the fourth approved human trial of preventive, specific Covid-19 vaccine candidates worldwide,” BioNTech said.

The UK too approved human trials of vaccines recently. Scientists at Oxford University are also planning to test the vaccine on almost 500 volunteers in Britain. The scientists say there is an ‘80% chance of success’.

“The best way to defeat coronavirus is through a vaccine, after all this is a new disease, this is uncertain science, but I am certain we will throw everything we’ve got at developing a vaccine,” UK Health Minister Matt Hancock said.

In China too, human tests for two vaccines are underway.

However, even if the vaccine is developed in a year’s time, we will be far from preventing an endemic spread of the disease. “Even if an approved, effective vaccine is available in a year, it’s more likely it will be given to patients and health-care workers who face greater risk from the disease and “it would still take several years to confer sufficient ‘herd immunity’ to prevent endemic spread of Covid-19," SVB Leerink’s Geoffrey Porges said.

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