Corona-virus Vaccine: Racing Against Time to Save the World from Corona-virus

Coronavirus VACCINE will be with us soon. However, it takes at least four years to develop a vaccine.

Unlike before when the world superpowers such as France, China, the UK, the US, and Russia compete against one another, this time they are competing against time because the world is going down faster due to COVID-19. 

Dozens of scientists are working hard to develop a vaccine for the COVID-19 causing virus, SARS-CoV-2. The scientists are combining both the existing and new techniques to attain this goal within a year.

Not this year, maybe by 2021. That is the earliest the world should expect a COVID-19 vaccine. The good news is that its development process has already been accelerated.

A vaccine goes through multiple stages before being fit for use. And now, with the global economy already in limbo, scientists warn that more deaths and infections are yet to come because developing a fully sustainable vaccine is a “lifetime” process that undergoes series of testing before eventually being registered and released to the public for purchase and consumption.

The initial scientific research and development stage of COVID-19 is followed by multiple series of tests in the healthcare setting. Usually, each developmental stage takes at least two years. However, COVID-19 has posed unusual times, forcing scientists to combine some of the steps.

Coronavirus Vaccine Development Stages

Vaccine development stages start with the pre-clinical stage. Here, the vaccine is tested on animals to test and assess its safety before given to humans. However, the development of coronavirus vaccine has been speeded up by testing it on both animals and humans on a parallel basis.

Phase 1 is the second stage of vaccine development, which entails giving the vaccine to a smaller group of people to assess its safety on the human population.

The third stage is in phase 2. Here, the vaccine is administered on several hundreds of people to assess further safety and possible side effects. However, this stage has been combined with phase 1. This implies that the already developed vaccine by Russia is or has already been tested on hundreds of people.

In Phase 3 or the last stage, the vaccine is administered on a few thousands of people across multiple regions to determine its effectiveness in reducing new infections. 

Finally, the vaccine is implemented following regulation and reviews by the scientist. In this stage, also known as the implementation phase, the vaccine is registered for use, licensed and manufactured for large-sale.

Hence, the world should expect a vaccine soon!