Advances in covid-19 vaccination

2020/05/26 Galarraga Aiestaran, Ana - Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Medikuntza
• Mikrobiologia
• Farmakologia
• Osasuna
• COVID-19

In recent days, progress has been made in investigating the covid-19 vaccine. The American company Moderna, for example, announced a week ago that its candidate, a vaccine based on the messenger RNA, gave good results in the first phase, through a press release.

Although it was considered the first vaccine tested in humans, a few days later Chinese researchers affirmed the same in the scientific article published in the journal The Lancet.

The article explains in detail the tests carried out and the results obtained. The research was carried out in Wuhan with 108 volunteers aged 18 to 60, men and women. Divided into three groups, they have tried three doses: low, medium and high.

They have used a recombined adenovirus type 5 to generate immune response. In fact, adenobirus causes normal diarrhea. Muffled adenoviruses are used to carry out vaccines, which are easy to enter into the cells, but do not cause damage. They include inside a part of the SARS-CoV-2 virus genome that encodes the proteins in the spicle used to access cells. The goal is for the immune system to generate antibodies against it.

And they have proved it effective. On the 14th the immune response was already measured in all volunteers and it was the 28th day the strongest. In addition to antibodies, T cells (specialized cells of the immune system) were created.

In addition, the University of Oxford (UK) has announced its willingness to test its candidate in phases II and III. More than 10,000 volunteers, including children. Together with the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca other institutions participate.

The vaccine being developed in Oxford is also adenobyric and a control group with another vaccine (one of meningococcus) will be used to better differentiate possible side effects. In macaques they saw that the vaccine was effective and demonstrated that it is safe in phase I.

It is indicated that the deadline for obtaining the results of the second and third phase is 2 to 6 months. The Chinese group, for its part, said it will be prepared by the end of the year or beginning of next year, and the Chinese president has committed to also distribute to developing countries.

In total, there are ten candidates who are currently being tested in people and in total more than 100 are developing in laboratories around the world under the control of the World Health Organization.