A Race For The COVID Vaccine Among Nations
The deadly coronavirus has shaken up and is still terrorizing all the nations without exceptions. Not only is the health drastically affected, but the economic stability and the lifestyles of the people are undergoing rapid changes all because of a single virus. This novel coronavirus has ingrained fear intimately and indiscriminatingly among the human species.
What Is This Novel Coronavirus?
Scientifically named as SARS-COV 2 virus and generically being called the COVID 19 virus, this virus belongs to the family of coronavirus that is mostly found in bats. The strain of virus causing the feared COVID 19 disease was first discovered through the outbreak of the pneumonia-like disease in China’s Wuhan region.
Due to the rapid potential of spread that this virus possesses, it soon engulfed the entire global community and earned the place of a pandemic. The presence of this virus can be determined from the most common symptoms of fever, dry cough and tiredness with loss of smell and taste, headache and diarrhea being the less common symptoms.
How Can We Stop This Virus?
The SARS-COV 2 virus is something for which a cure has yet to be discovered. Most viruses do not have a treatment; hence prevention of the spread always takes a priority in dealing with viral infections. The same situation applies to this new novel coronavirus causing COVID 19.
The high transmission rate and subsequently the death rate, which though relatively low, is still causing significant loss of human life with the number of people testing positive for this deadly virus. And this is why countries are scrambling to find a way to treat the disease.
For now, as a temporary measure, the for patients detected by mild symptoms are being treated with a variety of combination of antiviral drugs. While patients with severe symptoms are treated using plasma therapy and intensive care.
Thus it seems the only way to stay safe from this virus is to find a vaccine that not only protects the current populace from this virus but also secures the safety of the future generations.
Status Of Vaccine Trials Being Conducted All Over The World:
The first trials for the vaccine have been started as early as March when the virus first gained attention from January of this year. Outlined below is the general vaccine testing process that is a standard followed by almost all the nations of the world.
Preclinical trials: This is the test of the new vaccine on animals. For the COVID 19 vaccine, 93 such preclinical trials are under process or have been conducted.
Phase 1 safety trials: In this phase, the vaccine is tested on a small number of people who consent to this test. Russia claims that it has successfully completed phase 1 trials of the COVID 19 vaccine.
Phase 2 expanded trials: Scientists test this vaccine on a large group of people categorized demographically.
Phase3 trials: In this phase, the potential vaccine is given to thousands of people who are then tested to see how many are infected. For a vaccine to be approved at least 50% of the people who have been given the vaccine must remain protected from the virus.
Both Russia and China who claim to have synthesized a successful COVID 19 vaccine have not undergone or passed phase 3 of the vaccination testing processes. Most countries are thus reluctant to make use of this vaccine for they feel that the process has been rushed which may compromise the vaccine’s effectiveness. With many countries vying to find a way to get over this pandemic, experts believe that at least the vaccination trials could be successfully completed this year if not for the vaccine to be available for the public. Let us hope that the scientific community would be successful in these endeavors, and we will soon have ammunition to fight this seemingly invincible virus.
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