Covid vaccine still possible this year
Drugs giant AstraZeneca yesterday said a Covid-19 vaccine could still be available by as early as the end of the year, despite a randomised clinical trial being paused.
"We could still have a vaccine by the end of this year, early next year," the UK-based company's chief executive Pascal Soriot said in comments at a media event.
AstraZeneca announced Wednesday it had "voluntarily paused" its trial of a drug developed alongside Oxford University after a UK volunteer developed an unexplained illness.
An independent committee was drafted in to review safety but the company said it was a "routine action" designed to maintain the integrity of the trials.
"We will be guided by this committee as to when the trials could restart, so that we can continue our work at the earliest opportunity," Soriot said in a statement.
AstraZeneca's vaccine candidate is one of nine around the world currently in late-stage Phase 3 human trials.
Meanwhile, Serum Institute of India has put on hold trials of AstraZeneca's vaccine in the country until the British drugmaker restarts them, the company said yesterday.
"We are reviewing the situation and pausing India trials," Serum, the world's biggest vaccine manufacturer by volume, said in a brief statement.
The move to pause the trials in India comes after the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) V G Somani asked Serum for details on the suspension of trials overseas, in a show-cause notice that was reviewed by Reuters.
Somani asked the company to explain why the trials should not be suspended in India until patient safety is established and he warned Serum could face action if it did not offer an explanation.
Serum said yesterday that it was following the DCGI's directions and would not comment further on the matter.
The DCGI did not respond to an email seeking comment.
In the US, AstraZeneca began enrolling 30,000 volunteers across dozens of sites on August 31, and smaller groups are being tested in Brazil and elsewhere in South America.
The vaccine, called AZD1222, uses a weakened version of a common cold-causing adenovirus engineered to code for the spike protein that the coronavirus uses to invade cells.
After vaccination, this protein is produced inside the human body, which primes the immune system to attack the coronavirus if the person is later infected.
The director of UK scientific research charity the Wellcome Trust, Jeremy Farrar, said there were often pauses in vaccine trials.
He told BBC radio in an interview that it demonstrated the importance of conducting vaccine trials properly, with independent oversight and the involvement of the regulator.
"In the end the public must have absolute trust that these vaccines are safe and of course effective, and in the end will hopefully bring the pandemic to a close," he added.
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the pause was "not necessarily" a set-back, and said a similar pause occurred recently but was "resolved without a problem".
The pandemic has killed at least 904,534 people worldwide since surfacing in China late last year, according to an AFP count yesterday based on official sources. More than 27.9 million cases have been confirmed.
RECORD CASES, DEATHS
India reported record jumps in coronavirus infections and deaths yesterday, taking its tally of cases past 4.4 million, health ministry figures showed.
In the last 24 hours, 95,735 new infections were detected, with 1,172 deaths accounting for the highest single-day mortality figures in more than a month, to push the toll beyond 75,000.
The French government will discuss today whether to impose new, local lockdowns to try to tackle rising Covid-19 while keeping economic and social activities going.
Government spokesman Gabriel Attal said yesterday that nothing would be ruled out at the cabinet meeting, while President Emmanuel Macron said he hoped any new measures would not be too restrictive.
Indonesia's capital Jakarta plans to re-impose a partial lockdown as early as Monday over fears that surging cases could "collapse" its under-pressure hospitals, the sprawling city's governor said.
The megacity of some 30 million will see many office buildings and large mosques closed along with restaurants and other entertainment venues, while public transport hours will also be restricted.
VACCINE DISTRIBUTION CHALLENGE
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) urged governments to begin planning now to ensure a vaccine reaches populations in every corner of the globe.
The IATA warned delivering the vaccine will be the "mission of the century" for the aviation industry, cautioning governments to prepare for the "mammoth and complex task ahead."
The group, which represents 290 airlines, has estimated 8,000 747 cargo aircraft are needed to ship enough vials for a single dose per person.
The World Health Organization said yesterday coronavirus cases in the wider Middle East from Morocco to Pakistan have topped two million.
The caseload for the 21 countries has more than doubled since July 1, the UN agency said.
Regional director Ahmed Mandhari warned that even countries like Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia, which had kept their infection rates under control, were now facing significant upticks.
The WHO listed the hardest-hit countries as Iran with more than 393,000 cases, Saudi Arabia with more than 320,000, Pakistan with just under 300,000 and Iraq with nearly 274,000.
Comments