Progress in COVID19 Vaccine but Limited Vaccines

New Progress in COVID-19 Vaccine-medication problem + Limited number of Vaccines

Since the research of Oxford University and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by them has attracted much attention. Because the important producers of the new crown vaccine also include Pfizer and Modena, but unlike the vaccines produced by Pfizer and Modena, the vaccine can be stored at room temperature. More importantly, the Oxford University research team was the first institution to publish the results of its Phase III clinical trial in an industry evaluation journal.

Also Refer: Vaccine Development Encyclopedia

COVID-19 Vaccine Clinical Trial Data

The clinical trial data of the vaccine in Phase III show that it is safe and effective. Scientists even think it may be the most cost-effective new crown vaccine in the world.

However, through the analysis of the three-phase experimental data, it can be found that there are still many problems to be solved, such as:

1. Which plan is the most direct and effective drug?

2. Is the vaccine suitable for the elderly, and if so, what is the effect?

1. Medication problems

Combining the data of various medication regimens, the study found that the vaccine is effective in preventing symptomatic coronavirus infections with a success rate of 70%.

The standard regimen has a prevention success rate of 62%, while the lower initial dose regimen has a 90% prevention success rate.

Therefore, Stephen Griffin, a virologist at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, believes that the vaccine is indeed effective in preventing new coronavirus infections.

COVID-19 Medication Problems

The researchers plan to verify the efficacy of the initial low-dose regimen for a group of people, but in terms of age selection, they exclude susceptible people over 55 years old, which has to attract attention.

So the reviewers of The Lancet asked the research team's article content to segment its data according to age.

Although these people are all younger than 55 years old, the efficacy of the low-dose group is still higher than that of the standard-dose group.

In general, the effectiveness of this vaccine against the new coronavirus for people over 55 years of age is currently unknown.

2. Asymptomatic infection

Data shows that low-dose vaccination programs can effectively reduce asymptomatic infections, but it is temporarily unknown whether standard doses can reduce infections.

Therefore, the new crown vaccine still needs to continue to be tested

Other

Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, said that the pandemic of the new coronavirus means that it is essential to have multiple COVID-19 vaccines. Because the current number of vaccines is very limited.

Even if the vaccines of Pfizer, Modena and AstraZeneca are all used together, it is not enough to provide people all over the world with COVID-19 vaccination.

This shows that scientists also need to strengthen the development, research and production of the new crown vaccine.

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