Covid-19 vaccine race heats up — When will one be ready?

With many vaccine candidates showing improved efficacies, it is expected that its distribution will start soon

The coronavirus outbreak has gripped the world for months now, and different countries are racing to produce Covid-19 vaccine to save mankind. As different agencies have started announcing more improved efficacies of their vaccines, it is expected that the distribution of the vaccine will start soon. Let us see where the respective vaccine candidates stand at the moment.

AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 vaccine

British drugs group AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford on Monday said their jointly-developed vaccine against Covid-19 has shown "an average efficacy of 70 per cent" in trials.

"This vaccine's efficacy and safety confirm that it will be highly effective against Covid-19 and will have an immediate impact on this public health emergency," AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot said in a statement.

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The results ranged between 62 and 90 per cent efficacy depending on the vaccine dosage.

The 70 per cent average is lower compared with the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines trialled by rivals Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, which have shown efficacies above 90 per cent.

'Covaxin will have 60% efficacy'

Bharat Biotech said in a statement that its Covid-19 vaccine 'Covaxin' will be at least 60 per cent effective.

"World Health Organization (WHO), United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), and Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) only approve a respiratory disease vaccine if it is at least 50 per cent effective," Executive Director of Quality Operations at Bharat Biotech Sai D Prasad told the publication.

“Chances of the vaccine being less than 50 per cent effective are remote, as suggested by our trial results so far," the firm said indicating positive news for the largest clinical Covid-19 vaccine trial in India.

Also read — 'Sputnik V to cost less than Pfizer and Moderna's Covid-19 vaccines'

According to the WHO guidelines, a “clear demonstration of efficacy (on a population basis) ideally with 50 per cent point estimate should be a minimum criterion for any acceptable candidate. The body also said that efficacy can be assessed against “disease, severe disease, and/or shedding," the report said.

The indigenous vaccine, which is being developed by Bharat Biotech and ICMR, has received the approval of the CDSCO for initiating the third phase trial.

Moderna vaccine shows 94.5% efficacy

US biotech firm Moderna said its vaccine also showed 94.5 per cent efficacy.

Moderna plans to submit applications for emergency approval in the US and around the world within weeks and says it expects to have approximately 20 million doses ready to ship in the US by the end of the year.

The company is on track to manufacture between 500 million to a billion doses globally in 2021, it said.

Pfizer's ends Covid-19 trial at 95% efficacy

Pfizer Inc said last week that final results from the late-stage trial of its Covid-19 vaccine show it was 95 per cent effective, adding it had the required two-months of safety data. Pfizer and BioNTech SE requested emergency authorisation of their Covid-19 vaccine last week, and it could take at least three weeks for a US Food and Drug Administration decision as trial data is probed by agency staff and outside advisers.

The drugmaker said the efficacy of the vaccine was consistent across age and ethnicity demographics, and that there were no major side effects, a sign that the immunization could be employed broadly around the world.

Also read — Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine faces hurdles after US FDA filing

Efficacy in adults over 65 years, who are at particular risk from the virus, was over 94 per cent.

Trials of Covid-19 vaccine 'Sputnik V' resume

Russia has resumed the vaccination of new volunteers in its trial for its flagship Covid-19 Sputnik V vaccine after a short pause. "Vaccination has resumed. Starting on Monday, we are doing the first component (of the two-dose jab) again," a staff member at Moscow Clinic Number 46 told Reuters.

Also read: AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine shot is key to escaping Covid-19 pandemic for many nations like India

Trials of two candidate vaccines -- made by Johnson & Johnson and Eli Lilly -- were "paused" recently over safety concerns. But that is not necessarily bad news, said Stephen Evans, a professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

"The fact that trials are paused should indicate that there should be a confidence that the whole process of monitoring the safety of trial participants is working well," he said.

(With agency inputs)