Russia surprised the world this week by announcing it had approved a COVID-19 vaccine. The news was met with skepticism and confusion by the global scientific community, as the vaccine candidate has been tested on just 76 people. Digging a little deeper, it becomes clear that the certificate issued by Russia’s Ministry of Health only approves the vaccine to be given to “a small number of citizens from vulnerable groups.” Release of the vaccine to the general-public is not permitted until after January 1, 2021.
Presumably, that is to allow time for the vaccine to be tested on a larger group. Phase 3 trials, as they are known, test vaccines on tens-of-thousands of people. There is already two phase 3 trials underway in the U.S., with more expected to start in the fall. The Russian vaccine, known as ‘Sputnik V’, is listed on the National Institute of Health Library of Medicine, though no results from the earlier stages of the trial are available. The World Health Organization stated that it looks forward to reviewing Russia’s study data, and cautions that vaccine candidates should go through full testing before rolling out to the general public.
UCI Health issued a response to the Russian vaccine noting its concern with fast-tracking the trial process. “Vaccines must be vetted through transparent clinical trials to understand their dose-response effects, adverse reactions and effectiveness. Speed cannot compromise the required processes for quality and safety, even in a pandemic.” Dr. Susan Huang, Professor of Infectious Diseases at the School of Medicine issued the following updates on the timeline of a COVID-19 vaccine:
- Multiple vaccines are in the works and many companies have received over a billion dollars each to expedite manufacturing ahead of trial results
- Anticipate first vaccination trial data toward the end of 2020
- A vaccine is likely to be prioritized to health care workers by early 2021
- UCI Health has begun to stockpile vaccine deliver supplies
- Get vaccinated when an FDA, CDC recommended COVID vaccine is released
Bill Gates has also weighed in on the timeline for a COVID-19 vaccine. Gates doesn’t believe there will be one before the end of the year but says a number of vaccine candidates are likely to be approved in 2021. Even once a vaccine is rolled out, Gates says it will not halt the pandemic completely. “The initial vaccine won’t be ideal in terms of its effectiveness against sickness and transmission,” Gates told Bloomberg Businessweek. “It may not have long duration, and it will mainly be used in rich countries as a stopgap measure.”
As Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates has contributed $350-million in funds for vaccine development to AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Novavax. The good news, according to Gates, is that so many pharmaceutical companies and countries are working on a vaccine. “The strongest response will probably come from the protein subunit,” he says. “With so many companies working on it, we can afford quite a few failures and still have something with low cost and long duration.”
Meanwhile, Moderna, a pharmaceutical company based in the U.S., has signed a deal with the U.S. government to provide hundreds of millions of vaccines for U.S. citizens. The agreement is said to be worth $1.5-billion and is a part of the White House’s Operation Warp Speed Program.
China is also working on vaccine candidates, and has at least 6 in clinical trials. Results have been published in one of the trials that state the vaccine is ‘safe and can trigger an immune response.’