Coronavirus
gramme can expand beyond priority groups.
There should then be a mass vaccination of large populations. This planning can begin before this phase because preparation can be made regardless of vaccine availability. We should also test the population to check they are protected against reinfection.
PHASE FOUR – REBUILD OUR READINESS FOR THE NEXT PANDEMIC
It is highly likely we will face outbreaks of other diseases in the future and we need to learn the lessons from this outbreak. We should do the following:
Develop vaccines in months years.
Modernise our health systems. So when will we have a vaccine?
The world is currently hunting for a vaccine which will save hundreds of thousands of lives and bring us out of this weird limbo we are all in.
Around 35 institutions and companies are trying to create a vaccine, with 44 vaccines being evaluated. Vaccines have historically taken several years to develop but Boston firm Moderna is about to start human trials.
According to the WHO, another vaccine has already moved on to clinical trials in China at CanSino and the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology.
In the UK scientists at Imperial College London said clinical trials could take place in a few months’ time following positive research on mice.
“It is a global effort,” Dr Shattock from Imperial College London told The Independent. “We are not racing against each other – we are racing against the virus.”
There are several ways vaccines can be developed, including:
Deactivating the pathogen so it can be used to trigger the immune system in a person without making them sick – this is the traditional way. The Serum Institute of India is doing this.
Another way is to use parts of a virus, such as proteins to trigger and immune response.
These are called recombinant vaccines and are good because you can not make the proteins in a lab. Pharmaceutical giant Sanofi is doing this.
A technique that worked on ebola would be to hide the genetic code of Covid-19 proteins inside a virus which humans are not vulnerable to.
Even with the fast progress there is still the daunting testing period that is required as well as then distributing the vaccine.
The fast moving Moderna vaccine is expected to take between 12-18 months to develop.
Moderna president Stephen Hoge told Time. “We have an ethical responsibility to build the data and show the vaccine is safe and effective. Still, every chance we have to continue to demonstrate that we can pull the timeline in, we will take.”
There is also hope for medicines that will treat the virus.
The world’s largest randomised clinical trial of potential coronavirus treatments is well under way in the UK as part of the race to find a treatment.
A number of promising treatments are being tested and, if the science supports it, will be given to NHS patients as quickly as possible.
Definitive results on whether the treatments are safe and effective are expected within months and, if positive, they could potentially benefit hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.
The trial is testing a number of medicines recommended by an expert panel advising the Chief Medical Officer for England. They include:
Lopinavir-Ritonavir, used to treat HIV;
Dexamethasone, a type of steroid use in a range of conditions to reduce inflammation;
and Hydroxychloroquine, a ment for malaria.;
The trial is being co-ordinated by researchers at the University of Oxford, led by Peter Horby, Professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases and Global Health in the Nuffield Department of Medicine and Martin Landray, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the Nuffield Department of Population Health. commonly treat
AMERICAN superstar Pink has said that she has tested positive for coronavirus.
The 40-year-old singer also revealed that her three-year-old son Jameson started showing symptoms around the same time she did.
Pink, real name Alecia Beth Moore, is now donating £800,000 to help fight the virus.
She broke the news to her fans via Instagram. Underneath a sweet snap of her and her son, Pink wrote: “Two weeks ago my threeyear old son, Jameson, and I are were showing symptoms of Covid-19.
“Fortunately, our primary care physician had access to tests and I tested positive. My family was already sheltering at home and we continued to do so for the last two weeks following the instruction of our doctor. Just a few days ago we were re-tested and are now thankfully negative.”