Global Impact newsletter: a coronavirus vaccine and the return to normal
- Global Impact is a fortnightly curated newsletter featuring a news topic originating in China with a significant macro impact for our newsreaders around the world
- The topic of the first offering is one that affects all of us: the urgent quest for a vaccine to combat the coronavirus pandemic
We all want to know how soon our lives can return to anything resembling the “normal” of late last year, before the novel coronavirus outbreak and Covid-19.
There is no clear answer yet. What we need is a vaccine that will allow us the peace of mind to resume doing the things we took for granted only six months ago.
A vaccine is not just a physical barrier against infection, but also a psychological shield against the fear of engaging in social activities in crowded places – going to the movies, attending sporting events, or just hanging out at the beach.
But the development of an effective vaccine may take at least another year, scientists say. Attempts to short-cut the process carry grave risks, as an unproven vaccine could be as dangerous as the virus.
01:43
Steroid dexamethasone a life-saving treatment for very ill Covid-19 patients, UK study indicates
A vaccine is not a “silver bullet” that will provide permanent protection from the novel coronavirus for all time, as the battles against measles and chickenpox clearly show. This new version of the coronavirus joins four others that circulate around the world on a regular basis, including those that cause the common cold.
So the novel coronavirus will be with us for a while, perhaps becoming a regular visitor during flu season. Which makes the development of an effective vaccine that much more important.
60 second catch-up
- Explained: who is in the global competition to develop a coronavirus vaccine?
- Video: decoding Covid-19
- Infographic: coronavirus: the disease Covid-19 explained
- Infographic: decoding Covid-19
Deep Dives
Multiple vaccines and global approach needed to fight coronavirus, say top US scientists
- The researchers, including White House task force member Anthony Fauci, set out why coordinated international approach is necessary
- The paper goes against Donald Trump’s go-it-alone approach
Multiple vaccines and a coordinated global strategy will be needed to contain Covid-19, according to research by leading US scientists.
The study, whose co-authors include Anthony Fauci, a leading member of the White House coronavirus task force, laid out the scientific grounds for the US government’s initiative to boost collaboration between the academic, public and private sectors to develop a vaccine and treatments.
China building secure facilities to fast track coronavirus vaccine production
- The country currently has five candidate vaccines undergoing trials, four of which will need high levels of biosecurity to manufacture them safely
- The Chinese authorities are keen to begin mass production as quickly as possible
China is laying the groundwork to begin manufacturing Covid-19 vaccines as soon as they are given the green light.
Although the five drugs being developed by the country’s scientists are still months away from a full evaluation, secure facilities are already being built.
Coronavirus vaccine: WHO to issue guidelines on proposed use of human challenge trials
- Advocates say tests in which volunteers are deliberately infected with the pathogen that causes Covid-19 will help to speed up the development of a vaccine for it
- But some scientists are concerned about the ethical and medical implications of using such methods
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is planning to issue guidelines this month on a controversial approach to artificially expose volunteers to the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 in a bid to speed up the process of developing a vaccine.
With pressure mounting to produce a vaccine for the deadly disease, some scientists and activists are advocating the use of human challenge trials (HCT), in which healthy, young volunteers are deliberately infected with the virus to test the efficacy of vaccine candidates.
The life or death question: who gets the Covid-19 vaccine?
- World Health Assembly adopts resolution calling for special treatment on patents to ensure ‘universal, timely and equitable access’
- Experts warn drug development structure and signs of protectionism send worrying signals about what distribution will look like
As the United States, China and the European Union pump billions of dollars into the research effort, and with some vaccine candidates showing promise in early results out last week, the next question becomes more pressing: if a vaccine is developed, who will get it?
Coronavirus: why there’s no quick fix for a Covid-19 vaccine
- You might think money would not be an issue in trying to solve the biggest problem facing the world right now. You would be be wrong
- Pharmaceutical firms have the funds but lack the motivation; public bodies have the motivation but lack the cash
Gilbert and her fellow researchers at Oxford University face a myriad of technical challenges and potential complications in their quest to defeat the virus that has claimed 100,000 lives and crippled economies worldwide.
02:10
Scientists in China claim a new drug could stop Covid-19 without a vaccine
Coronavirus vaccine could be ready for emergency use within months, says Chinese expert Zhong Nanshan
- Respiratory diseases specialist says developing herd immunity will cost millions of lives, so the only way to defeat Covid-19 is to inoculate people
- Zhong says vaccines for use in emergencies could be ready by autumn but large-scale use may be up to two years away
Zhong’s estimate echoed last month’s comments by Gao Fu, head of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, that it was drafting guidelines to determine who would be eligible to receive the vaccine, when to take them, and what would constitute emergency use.
