Latest Covid-19 Vaccine Update

Results from trials involving three different coronavirus vaccines released Monday, all showing positive results, with evidence the vaccines can produce immune responses that would be expected to protect people against infection.

Early results of a closely watched Phase 1/2 trial published in The Lancet suggest a coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is safe and induces an immune response. However, researchers stressed more study is needed to know whether the vaccine actually protects people against the virus.

Phase 2 results for one vaccine candidate made by Chinese company CanSino Biologics were also published in the medical journal The Lancet, and early results from Phase 1/2 trials of the vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech were released in a pre-print paper that has not yet been peer-reviewed.

These are steps in the right direction, but they’re just the start. A Phase 1 study typically only includes a small number of people, and focuses on whether a vaccine is safe and elicits an immune response. In Phase 2, the clinical study is expanded and the vaccine is given to people who have characteristics — such as age and physical health — similar to those for whom the new vaccine is intended, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Phase 3, the vaccine is given to thousands of people and tested for efficacy, and again for safety.

“This is a positive result, but again there’s a long way to go. These are Phase 1 studies. We now need to move into larger scale real-world trials, but it is good to see more data and more products moving into this very important phase of vaccine discovery,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Programme, said during a media briefing on Monday.

Source: CNN Health