A huge study by the US on another candidate for the COVID-19 vaccine began on Monday, as states continue to launch rare supplies of first shots to a nation looking forward to relief from the catastrophic outbreak.
Public health experts say more options in addition to the two vaccines now being released – one by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, the other by Moderna – are essential to gather enough photos for the country and the world.
The candidate made by Novavax Inc. is the fifth to reach the final stage in the United States. About 30,000 volunteers are needed to prove that the shot – other than its Pfizer and Moderna competitors – really works and is safe.
“If you want to have enough vaccine to vaccinate everyone in the United States that you want to vaccinate – up to 85% or more of the population – you’re going to need more than two companies,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the expert. in top infectious diseases in the US, he told the Associated Press on Monday.
Coronavirus is responsible for approximately 1.8 million deaths worldwide, including more than 330,000 in the United States. This was the deadliest month of the US outbreak to date, with about 65,000 deaths in December so far, according to the COVID follow-up project. The nation has repeatedly recorded more than 3,000 deaths a day in the past few weeks.
And the United States could face a terrible winter: despite warnings to stay home and avoid others over Christmas, nearly 1.3 million people passed through the nation’s airports on Sunday, the highest total in a day. since the crisis took place in the US nine months ago. .
The Trump administration’s Warp Speed operation is expected to have sent 20 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to the states by early January, less than initially estimated. to the frustration of states and health officials trying to schedule shootings.
There is no real-time tracking of the speed with which people receive the first of the two required doses. As of Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported more than 2.1 million vaccinations out of 11.4 million doses shipped – but the agency knows the number is outnumbered. It may take several days for vaccine vendor reports to be entered and added to the site.
“Just because a vaccine arrives doesn’t mean we can run an on-site clinic,” said Jenny Barta, a public health official in Carlton County, Minnesota.
But on Tuesday, her agency aims to vaccinate 100 people in a leading clinic for emergency medical workers, which Barta hopes could become a model for larger mass vaccination attempts. The nurses will transport the vaccine to the cars lined up in a snow removal garage owned by a county. Once the drivers are shot, they will wait in the parking lots to make sure they don’t have an allergic reaction before leaving home.
“Vaccinating a person at some point is the way we will go about this pandemic,” she said.
Another concern over the vaccine fight: Will the photos shoot a new variant of the coronavirus that has appeared in the UK and could spread more easily? Fauci said data from the UK indicated that vaccines would continue to protect against the virus, but that researchers at the National Institutes of Health would be “analyzed very closely” to be sure.
A look at the leaders in the world vaccine race:
GENETIC CODE VACCINES
The US has based its emergency launch of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and a similar one by Moderna and NIH on studies that suggest both are about 95% effective. Over the weekend, Europe began its first vaccinations with the Pfizer shot and, on January 6, will decide whether to add Moderna.
These photos are taken with a new technology that injects a piece of genetic code for the spike protein that covers the coronavirus. This messenger RNA, or mRNA, induces the body to produce some harmless spike proteins, enough to release the immune system to react if it later encounters the real virus.
Both vaccines should be kept frozen, Pfizer shot at ultra low temperatures which complicates its delivery in poor or rural areas.
Additional companies are working for their own mRNA candidates, including CureVac in Germany, which has begun a large study in Europe.
PROTEIN VACCINES
The Novavax candidate is made differently, using what Fauci called a “more tried and true” technology that only needs regular refrigeration. The Maryland-based company raises harmless copies of the coronavirus protein in the lab and mixes it into a chemical that boosts immunity.
Novavax has already enrolled 15,000 people in a late-stage study in the UK and 4,000 in South Africa. The latest and largest study, funded by the US government, will recruit volunteers from more than 115 sites in the US and Mexico and will target high-risk older adults, along with volunteers from black and Hispanic communities who have been severely affected. of virus.
“We need to protect our community and our people,” said Rev. Peter Johnson, 75, a prominent Dallas civil rights activist who was among the first volunteers.
Two-thirds of participants will receive the vaccine and the rest inactive photos, a twist from previous vaccine studies that gave half of their volunteers a placebo. “This should help researchers recruit people who are wondering if it’s better to participate in a study or wait their turn for an existing shot,” said Dr. Gregory Glenn, head of research at Novavax.
For many people, this would be a long wait: Pfizer and Moderna photos are planned first for health care workers and nursing home residents, followed by people aged 75 and older and essential workers.
“If you want to cover your bets, for most people who are not in these very high-risk groups, the shortest way to get the vaccine would be to sign up for a trial,” said NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins.
TROJAN HORSE VACCINES
The following big news about the vaccine may come from Johnson & Johnson, which is pursuing a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine.
Manufactured in another way, it uses a harmless virus – a cold virus called adenovirus – to carry the spike gene into the body. In mid-December, J&J completed the enrollment of approximately 45,000 volunteers in a final study in the United States and half a dozen other countries. Jaws expect early results sometime next month.
In the UK, regulators are also considering removing a similar vaccine made by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
Photo tests in the UK, South Africa and Brazil have suggested that they are safe and partially protective – around 70%. But questions remain about how well the vaccine works in people over the age of 55 and how to interpret the results of a small number of people who have been given a different set of doses.
A US study of AstraZeneca photos still recruits volunteers; Fauci said the researchers hope it will provide a clearer answer.
Companies in China and Russia also produce adenovirus-based vaccines and have started administering them before final test results come in. Argentina is expected to use the Russian vaccine soon.
“OCURATE” VACCINES
Vaccines focused on peaks are not the only option. Making vaccines by raising a disease-causing virus and then killing it is an even older approach that gives the body a brief look at the germ itself, rather than just that unique protein.
China has three such “inactivated” COVID-19 vaccines in the final tests in several countries and has allowed emergency use in some people before the results. An Indian company is testing its own inactivated candidate.
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The Associated Press Department of Health and Science receives support from the Science Department of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. AP is solely responsible for all content.