Brazil’s coronavirus curve may hold the key to a global vaccine
SAO PAULO - As the coronavirus pandemic tears through Brazil, researchers and pharmaceutical companies are turning to the South American giant in search of a vaccine.
Brazil, where the number of cases has now surpassed 2 million, is one of a small handful of sites for testing experimental coronavirus vaccines. It offers an unusual and appealing mix for research: a skyrocketing rate of transmission, as well as internationally respected research centers and a public health system experienced in creating and distributing vaccines. According to the World Health Organization, as of July 14, 163 COVID-19 vaccines were being developed around the world, and 23 of them had started clinical trials involving humans. But only two have reached Phase 3 the last scientific stage before approval to be marketed - which requires large-scale trials with thousands of individuals to assess the efficacy and safety of the vaccine. Both Phase 3 trials will include Brazil and are scheduled to involve at least 14,000 Brazilians. Advanced talks are also underway to launch three more vaccine trials in the country, according to Brazilian institutes consulted by CNN. While Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, has repeatedly downplayed the virus as a “little flu” and been criticized by experts for his unwillingness to implement forceful nationwide containment measures, the vaccine research being carried out now inside Brazil’s borders could prove to be a global game changer as the northern hemisphere braces for a possible second wave in the winter. Julio Barbosa, a 42-year-old nursing technician who has already lost five colleagues to the coronavirus, has volunteered to participate in one of the mass vaccination trials, conducted by Oxford University and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. The Phase 3 trial will involve 50,000 volunteers worldwide. After taking the shot, Barbosa says he had a low-grade fever and mild muscular pain which disappeared the next morning. In the trial, involving mostly health workers, half of the volunteers are receiving the trial COVID-19 vaccine and half are receiving a meningitis vaccine, which can provoke similar symptoms.
(CNN)