COVID-19 vaccines that do not require a needle may be available later this year or next, said a top scientist.
Six to eight new immunizations could be ready for regulatory review by the end of the year – some of which do not require needles and can be stored at room temperature, Soumya Swaminathan, the World Health Organization’s chief scientist, said over the weekend. Bloomberg News.
Experimental vaccines in production use alternative technologies and delivery systems, including oral and nasal administration and skin patches – methods that are better suited to groups such as pregnant women, Swaminathan said.
Promising inoculations are among more than 80 candidate vaccines that are being studied, some of which are in their infancy and may fail, Bloomberg reports.
Only 122 of the 195 countries in the world have started vaccinating citizens against COVID-19, while drug manufacturers are struggling to fulfill orders, according to Bloomberg.
“We are delighted with the vaccines we have,” Swaminathan said. But “we can improve even more,” she said, according to the report. “I think by 2022 we will see improved vaccines.”
Current manufacturers are also testing updated versions of their photos to address the dangerous variants of the virus, which have proliferated in recent months.
WHO is examining whether COVID-19 survivors need just one shot of the vaccine, which could release more supplies.
Swaminathan warned that a simple approach could complicate matters in many countries. however, if blood tests are needed to measure antibodies first, according to Bloomberg.
Scientists are also replacing placebos with “gold standard” vaccines for ethical reasons in some experimental tests, according to the report. Another approach analyzed is the comparison of three or four candidate drugs with a placebo, which means that patients would have only a 20% chance of receiving a false dose.
“We are in talks now with several vaccine companies under development to see if we can launch something like this on a global testing platform,” Swaminathan said.
The top scientist reiterated on Monday that no deaths related to COVID-19 vaccines have been documented.
Several countries have suspended the AstraZeneca shooting to study its possible negative side effects, but Swaminathan said: “We don’t want people to panic.”
With Post threads