Eight licensed vaccines, three in process and another 250 under development. This is the landscape of covid-19 vaccines around the world.
I’m already on the market
Pfizer / BioNTech – Licensed in the European Union, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and many other countries. Developed by the American giant Pfizer and the German laboratory BioNTech, it is based on RNA messenger technology and has a very high efficiency rate (95%).
Modern: another vaccine with RNA messenger, has very similar characteristics to the previous one, with 94.1% efficacy. This American vaccine is licensed in the EU, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom (where it is not yet available) and other countries, such as Israel and Singapore.
AstraZeneca / Oxford: Designed by the English University of Oxford and the Anglo-Swedish laboratory AstraZeneca, this vaccine uses a different technology, called a “viral vector”. It is allowed in the EU, the UK and other less affluent countries, such as India (where it is sold as Covishield), Argentina or South Korea. It is 60% effective according to the European Medicines Agency (EMA), but is cheaper and easier to store than the previous two. It has also been the subject of several criticisms regarding the lack of data on its effectiveness in the elderly or its possible major side effects.
Sputnik V: Developed by Russia, this viral vaccine is 91.6% effective. In addition to Russia, it is approved in about fifteen countries (Belarus, Armenia, Venezuela, Iran, South Korea, Argentina and Algeria, among them). In the EU, although EMA proceedings have begun, Sputnik V has not yet reached the stage of being able to apply for a permit.
Sinopharm: The two vaccines developed by the Chinese laboratory, which use the classic inactivated virus technique, are present in China and several other countries around the world, including the United Arab Emirates, Hungary, Peru, Cambodia and Zimbabwe. According to its designers, it has an efficiency of 79%, but the data on which it is based have not been published.
Sinovac: Another Chinese vaccine based on the inactivated virus technique, is authorized in China, Chile, Brazil and even Turkey. Other countries have reserved doses of this vaccine, such as Ukraine and Uruguay. According to Sinovac, large-scale studies in Brazil showed an overall efficacy rate of about 50% (and 80% of the most severe forms), but no data were published in this case either.
Bharat Biotech: This vaccine with inactivated virus from India, authorized in that country.
CanSino: This Chinese viral vaccine was approved last week by Mexico, but has not yet been administered there.
I am on the road
Johnson & Johnson: The US Group has applied for authorization in the European Union and the United States for this viral vector vaccine manufactured by its subsidiary Janssen Cilag. According to the manufacturer, it is 66% effective overall and 85% effective against severe forms. Unlike the others, it requires only one injection and not two.
Novavax: The EMA is examining this US vaccine, which paves the way for a future application for authorization in the EU. It is a protein-based vaccine that triggers an immune response without viruses. Its designers claim that it is 89.3% efficient.
CureVac: This German vaccine also entered the ongoing EMA review procedure on Friday. It is a messenger RNA vaccine.
Vaccines under manufacture
According to the World Health Organization, another 69 vaccines against covid-19 are undergoing clinical trials in humans. In addition to 181 vaccines that are in the preclinical development phase and have not yet been tested in humans.