This article was first published on the 5th of July, 2020 by Patrick Carpen.
Last updated: July 5, 2020 at 18:10 pm
Covaxin, a COVID-19 vaccine, is being developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and is expected to be released on August 15th, 2020.
Indian Pharmaceutical company, Bharat Biotech International Limited, based in Hyderabad, India, has announced the shocking but anticipated news that it will be making the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine available to the public on August 15, 2020. If successful, the release of COVAXIN could mark the beginning of the end of coronavirus. But many people are taking this announcement with a pinch of salt.
Bona Fide Intentions or Quest for Glory?
August 15th happens to be India’s Independence Day, and many people are speculating that the rush to release COVAXIN on that day is associated with helping India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi get re-elected in the upcoming elections later this year. An untimely race for glory or a genuine desire to help humanity? Clouded in controversy, it is hard to determine the truth at this point, but the results will soon be forthcoming. Certainly, there is nothing wrong with a show of patriotism, but the question here is: will it work?
Fast Tracking
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) had granted the company permission to initiate Phase I and II human clinical trials on 29 June, 2020 after it submitted results generated from pre-clinical studies, demonstrating the vaccine’s safety and immune response to the infection.
The first two phases of testing of a vaccine are usually done to ensure safety while Phase 3 is done to ascertain the efficacy of the vaccine. Each of the three phases of vaccine testing usually takes months or years. Phase 1 trials for COVAXIN are expected to be completed in 28 days from today, 5th of July, 2020 putting the vaccine on a fast track for an August 15th release.. However, it is not clear how the company will complete Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials in a matter of days in time for the August 15, 2020 launch, or whether the vaccine will be launched without Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials.
The Indian Council of Medical Research said that the process is “exactly in accordance with globally accepted norms for fasttrack vaccine development.”
The Race
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, over 110 companies around the world has been racing to produce the first coronavirus vaccine, but as of today, only about 11 have advanced to large scale trials. A vaccine usually takes years to develop, test and certify and it took many by surprise when Bharat Biotech announced that it plans to launch COVAXIN on August 15th, 2020.
The Front Runners
COVAXIN – Bharat Biotech has announced that they are confident that COVAXIN will be ready for release on August 15, 2020.
Zydus – The Indian Pharmaceutical Company, Zydus Cadila has been given the green light by the Drug Controller General of India to start phase 1 and 2 of their clinical trial on human participants.
SINOVAC – The vaccine produced by Chinese Pharmaceutical Giant, Cansino Biologics INC, has been granted permission to start trials in Brazilian Health Regulators.
Oxford Vaccine – Already in Phase 3 clinical trials. The Oxford Vaccine has been deemed one of the potentially safest vaccines by the WHO.
BioNtech – A vaccine by a German Company which has shown promising results in Phase 1 trials.
Johnson and Johnson – Pharma Giant, Johnson and Johnson announced a breakthrough this week and the start of potential Phase 1 trial of their vaccine prototype.
COVAXIN: How it Works
COVAXIN may be classified as an inactivated vaccine. It aims to inject a deactivated version of the coronavirus into the body which cannot replicate in the vaccinated person. However, the body still recognizes the pathogen as COVID-19 and triggers an immune response which stimulates antibodies to fight the coronavirus. If the patient subsequently contracts COVID-19, the body already has a defense mechanism against it. COVAXIN is expected to use the spike protein of the virus to trigger the production of antibodies.
The Pandemic
Coronavirus has hit the world hard. The virus that is thought to have originated in the animal meat markets of Wuhan, China, has quickly spread across the globe to pandemic proportions. It has spread to almost all countries and territories of the world. To date, 5th of July, 2020, there has been over 11 million confirmed cases of coronavirus around the world and over 500,000 coronavirus related deaths.
The Fight
The question now is: “will humans survive the coronavirus?” In fact, humans are in a race to kill the coronavirus before it kills them. In the showdown between an invisible virus and human beings, the jungle rule takes effect: kill (the virus) or be killed by it.
But another question is: how do you kill a virus you cannot see? Or, more aptly, how do you beat an invisible enemy? As I mentioned in another article, “splitting the atom, the human will to stay alive,” the quest for human survival trumps all, and history has proven time and time again that in the war for survival, humans always come out on top.
A vaccine usually takes years to develop – going through phases of pre-clinical trials, human clinical trials, testing and improvements before finally being released to the public. But history has shown that when the threat against human survival becomes imminent, humans do the impossible. Let’s hope that’s the case here.
Related: Coronavirus Report by Country.
