Are We Any Closer To Getting A Vaccine For Coronavirus? A Look At The Progress

Researchers across the world continue their search for an effective vaccine against coronavirus. Here are the latest updates regarding the vaccine.

(Representative Image/ Getty)

New Delhi: The coronavirus pandemic continues across the world and according to data by John Hopkins University the global toll has reached 9,263,570 cases. While health bodies around the world have recommended some medicines such as Remdesivir for emergency use for severe cases of COVID 19, there are no proven cures yet.  Most people are pinning their hopes on an effective virus against the coronavirus. Researchers across the world are trying to develop a vaccine against coronavirus and some of the vaccine candidates have reached trial stages. One of the earliest vaccines to enter phases II and III of the trails is the Oxford University vaccine ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 which is a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus) that causes infections in chimpanzees. The vaccine has now entered the second and third phase of testing.  Here are the latest updates on coronavirus vaccine development around the world Sanofi- The French multinational pharmaceutical company based in Paris, extended their collaboration with the US-based Translate Bio and plan to start trials of vaccine by the end of 2020. According to a statement by the company, the teams are currently evaluating multiple COVID-19 vaccine candidates for immunogenicity and neutralizing antibody activity. The company also plans ‘initiate a first-in-human clinical trial in the fourth quarter of 2020. ‘ China National Biotec Group- According to a report by Reuters this Chinese firm is ready to conduct the phase 3 trial of its vaccine in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The report says the trials are being conducted overseas as there are not enough new patients in China. It is also the first Chinese firm to begin the Phase 3 trial in which the vaccine candidate is tested on a large group usually over the age of 18. The company has not disclosed the details of the vaccine or the trial yet. Oxford University- Trials for the candidate vaccine ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 by the Jenner Institute (Oxford University) will begin soon in Brazil. The trials were approved by the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa) on June 2. According to the sponsor Lemann Foundation, 2,000 Brazilians will participate in the first round of trials which will mostly be health workers and other frontline workers. Participants will receive the vaccine and then continue being exposed to the virus normally in their day-to-day work as they had been before. Also Watch: India reports more than 15 thousand COVID-19 cases in a day