In China, the US and Australia, scientists are working on a vaccine against the new coronavirus. They are progressing at a record pace, but that does not mean that vaccinations will be available in the coming weeks.
Scientists know the genetic code of the Wuhan coronavirus, which it turned out in 75-80 percent percent similar to SARS. It was identified and made public by the Chinese a few days after the detection of 2019-nCoV. Subsequently, the World Health Organization created a platform to facilitate the sharing of clinical data. Research on the vaccine is ongoing (including in China, the United States and Australia), but it may take more than a year before it is ready for sale, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, at a press conference at the Department of Health and Care US Social.
The first phase of the studies, including trials in humans, will take three months, and another three months will take to obtain safety and immunogenicity data. Only later will it be possible to proceed to the second and third phases. The pace of work is rapid, because vaccines usually take years to develop. If all goes well, it will be the fastest vaccine ever developed and tested in an epidemic situation. It is being prepared by several independent laboratories, incl. belonging to the biotechnology company Moderna of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The SARS vaccine did not hit the market
In the case of SARS, it took as long as 20 months to move from recognizing the coronavirus genome to phase one. After the immediate threat of the SARS virus was over, the research was postponed because no pharmaceutical company wanted to invest in it anymore. Dr Peter Hoetz, who led the team developing the vaccine, says that if the work was completed, we would now be better prepared for the new coronavirus.
The Wuhan coronavirus is spreading faster than SARS. However, in the case of SARS, the mortality rate of those infected was higher – it amounted to 10 percent. The death rate due to the 2019-nCoV coronavirus infection has been estimated by the World Health Organization at 2,3 percent.
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