A top scientist has warned that a coronavirus or COVID-19 vaccine is not going to be ready in time for a potential second wave. Sir John Bell, who is Oxford University's regius professor of medicine claims that the majority of the vaccines take almost eight years to develop while the research into the novel coronavirus has only been going for eight months.
A vaccine trial that is being jointly conducted by Oxford and the drugmaker AstraZeneca is considered the biggest hope at creating a vaccine that will help to boost immunity against the virus. But according to the expert, the vaccine will get ready by early next year by stated, "We're not going to beat the second wave now. We're probably right at the front end of the second wave now, but a vaccine might arrive towards the end of the second wave," as reported by the Daily Telegraph. "We're probably about three to four months ahead of anybody else with a practical vaccine," he added.
Vaccine Not Before COVID-19 Second Wave
But the recent halt in the clinical study after a participant fell ill with unexplained illness may indicate a delay in the process. "On 6 September, the standard review process triggered a voluntary pause to vaccination across all global trials to allow the review of safety data by independent committees and international regulators," AstraZeneca stated.
The Medicines Health Regulatory Authority (MHRA) yesterday gave a confirmation that it was safe to restart the trials. AstraZeneca, which is based in Cambridge mentioned that it could not give further medical information. AstraZeneca stated that the company is going to continue their work with the health authorities across the world and be guided as to when the other clinical trials can restart to provide the vaccine broadly and at no profit during the pandemic.
Countries are currently desperately looking forward to a vaccine that can put an end to the pandemic. The WHO has also flagged the AstraZeneca's vaccine candidate as the most promising one. It is currently in the late-stage clinical trials in the US, Britain, Brazil, and South Africa while more trials are planned to take place in Russia and Japan.
The deadly virus outbreak has created a major stir around the world in recent times infecting more than 28.7 million people globally and claimed the lives of over 920,000 people worldwide in more than 170 countries.
