Coronavirus vaccine update: Brazil halts China jab trial on adverse effect

Brazil has suspended clinical trials for China's Sinovac coronavirus vaccine, due to a 'severe adverse effect'. Catch latest coronavirus vaccine updates and Covid treatment here

Coronavirus vaccine update: The world recorded nearly 500,000 fresh Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the tally to 50,728,891. While the US caseload has crossed 10.2 million, India, France, Russia and Brazil are also struggling to curb the growth of the highly infectious virus. Every hope today is pinned on coronavirus vaccine development. Take a look at how things stand:

-There are at least 182 coronavirus vaccine candidates in pre-clinical or clinical-trial stages across the globe. Of these, nine are in final human-trial stage. In India, two vaccines are in Phase-II trials and one (the Oxford University one) in Phase-III.

-Experts have said vaccines are likely to reach the general public in the March-April 2021. Drug makers, on the other hand, have been more ambitious with their calculations.

-Firms like Moderna Inc and Pfizer are eyeing the emergency-use authorisation route to launch their shots by year-end.

Covid vaccine progress

1. Coronavirus vaccine update: Brazil halts China vaccine trial over 'adverse effect'

Brazil’s health regulator Anvisa said on Monday it had suspended clinical trials for China’s Sinovac coronavirus vaccine, due to a “severe adverse effect” that took place on Oct. 29.

Anvisa did not provide more details, such as whether the incident took place in Brazil - where trials are being conducted - or in another country.

2. Pfizer vaccine update

Pfizer Inc said on Monday its experimental Covid-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective. Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE are the first drugmakers to release successful data from a large-scale clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine. The companies said they have so far found no serious safety concerns and expect to seek US authorization this month for emergency use of the vaccine.

3. Coronavirus vaccine update: 'No vaccine for common Indians till 2022'

AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria, also a member of the national task force on the coronavirus management in the country, has said that common people will have to wait till 2022 for a shot of the coronavirus vaccine. The AIIMS director said it will take "more than a year" for a coronavirus vaccine to be easily available in the Indian markets.

4. India coronavirus vaccine update

Bharat Biotech, a private firm that is developing COVAXIN with the government-run Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), had earlier hoped to launch it only in the second quarter of next year. “The vaccine has shown good efficacy,” senior ICMR scientist Rajni Kant, who is also a member of its Covid-19 task force, said at the research body’s New Delhi headquarters. “It is expected that by the beginning of next year, February or March, something would be available.” Bharat Biotech could not be contacted.

A launch in February would make COVAXIN the first India-made vaccine to be rolled out.

5. CanSino Biologics delivers coronavirus vaccine to Mexico for late-stage trial

Mexico has received the first doses of a Covid-19 vaccine candidate from Chinese pharmaceutical company CanSino Biologics Inc. for a late stage-trial on between 10,000 and 15,000 volunteers. The country aims to vaccinate nearly all of its population against Covid-19 by the end of 2021

6. Oxford coronavirus vaccine progress

The Covid-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford could present late-stage trial results before the year end but it is unclear if it will be rolled out before Christmas, the chief trial investigator for the vaccine said on Wednesday.

"I'm optimistic that we could reach that point before the end of this year," Oxford Vaccine Trial Chief Investigator Andrew Pollard said of presenting trial results this year.

"Our bit - we are getting closer to but we are not there yet," Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said.

7. Germany coronavirus vaccine update

German vaccine maker CureVac has said that interim results from early trials showed that its investigational Covid-19 vaccine candidate, CvnCoV, appeared safe and triggered immune response among volunteers.

The Phase 1 study has enrolled to date more than 250 healthy individuals aged 18 to 60 years.

8. Israel Covid vaccine update: Human trials for coronavirus vaccine underway

Israel began human trials on November 1 for its Covid-19 vaccine candidate (BriLife) which, if successful, could be ready for use by general public by the end of next summer. "We are in the final stretch," said Shmuel Shapira, Director General of the Israel Institute for Biological Research.

9. Moderna coronavirus vaccine update

American biotechnology company Moderna announced that it was preparing for the global launch of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate mRNA-1273. On October 22, the Phase 3 study of mRNA-1273 completed enrollment of 30,000 participants with approximately 37 per cent of participants from diverse communities. The Phase 1 interim analysis of the vaccine, published in The New England Journal of Medicine on July 14, showed that mRNA-1273 was generally well-tolerated across all age groups and induced rapid and strong immune responses against SARS-CoV-2.

10. Coronavirus vaccine India progress

Anganwadi centres, schools, panchayat buildings and other such setups would be used extensively in addition to healthcare facilities as vaccination sites in the anti-coronavirus inoculation drive which would be monitored by the Union health ministry's digital platform and would involve sending SMSes and generating a QR code after each jab to track the beneficiaries.