How are COVID-19 vaccines being developed? Several drugmakers have announced that they are moving to Phase 2 of COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials; the Oxford vaccine by Serum Institute of India backed by Adar Poonawala has started Phase 3 clinical trials. What do these phases mean? Should we think that we are close to a getting a vaccine for COVID-19?
BOOM Explains. Dr SP Kalantri, Director Professor of Medicine & Medical Superintendent, Kasturba Hospital, Sevagram, Maharashtra, says that it is extremely important for the scientific community to adhere to scientific and ethical principles and not bow down to media or political pressure in the race for COVID vaccine. It’s crucial that every adverse event is captured and recorded, because we do know from past experience that certain successful vaccines had delayed but serious toxicity.
Dr. N.Kumarasamy, Chief & Director, VHS-Infectious Diseases Medical Centre, says that any vaccine takes 3 – 8 years to reach the end consumers. But due to the global pandemic, some processes are accelerated, which may or may not be a good thing. Almost 440+ vaccines are in the pre-clinical stage, 90 in Phase 1 trials and 12 in Phase 2, which is remarkable but care has to be taken to ensure it is being done systematically and ethically.
