The world is waiting for the covid-19 vaccine, which is a key tool to end quarantine, revive the economy and contain the epidemic.
How is vaccine development progressing?
What are the difficulties?
When will a “safe and effective” vaccine become available?
How much vaccine is needed?
Can enough be produced?
Focusing on the issue of vaccines, caijing nation weekly conducted a round of in-depth research, interviewed experts in the pharmaceutical industry, and talked with companies and institutions in the forefront of vaccine research and development, in an attempt to present a three-dimensional and rigorous picture of the current situation of vaccines.

On the afternoon of May 21, the share price of a Chinese biotechnology company called konshino (6185.hk, konshino) suddenly plunged, at one point exceeding 20%.
The surprise came a day after the company’s share price hit an all-time high.

The roller coaster of dramatic changes, all because of — the covid-19 vaccine.

On May 20, consinore struck a deal with PrecisionNano Systems, a Canadian biotech company, to develop an mRNA vaccine.
From this, consino also had “double insurance”.
Another covid-19 vaccine, jointly developed with the academy of military sciences, was the first to enter clinical phase II worldwide.

On May 21st, when shares plunged, the news that animal trials of vaccines at Oxford University had faltered was refresh. Although they produced antibodies, researchers found that rhesus monkeys injected with the vaccine were still infected with the virus.
The covid-19 vaccine, jointly developed by consinore and its partners, also USES the Oxford vaccine’s technical route.

It is not just consino that is at stake. The mood in global capital markets is rising and falling with the dynamics of the vaccine — seen by many as the hope for a return to normal life, the key to saving lives, ending quarantine, restoring economic order and containing the epidemic.

Countries and organizations around the world are already working together.
Previous data released by the world health organization (WHO) showed that more than 120 candidate vaccines are being developed and 10 are in clinical trials, five of which are being developed by Chinese companies/institutions.

It’s a global race against the virus.

The key to ending the “long struggle”

Because of covid-19, almost everyone is concerned about vaccines.

At present, covid-19 is still spreading around the world.
As of the deadline of May 30, the global total of confirmed cases of covid-19 had exceeded 5.8 million, with more than 3.67 million deaths.

In China, the covid-19 outbreak has been effectively controlled, but the threat of foreign importation still exists. “the virus knows no borders”. How to prevent the importation of the virus from abroad and at the same time guard against local outbreaks in China have become two priorities in China’s current fight against the epidemic.

According to an epidemiologist interviewed by a reporter from caijing nation weekly, a vaccine is the main hope for fighting the highly infectious virus, which is commonly susceptible to people.
The hope for real peace is to achieve herd immunity through vaccines.

“The war in China has moved from ‘total sniper warfare’ to ‘guerrilla warfare.'”
“Said liu yuanli, director of the school of public health at Peking union medical college hospital of the Chinese academy of medical sciences.
Although testing coverage is expanding, it is ultimately up to the vaccine.

The need for vaccines is likely to persist.
Most epidemiologists now agree that novel coronavirus is unlikely to disappear suddenly, as SARS did, but will remain in humans for a long time.
It will be a long struggle between human beings and novel coronavirus.

On May 25, the world health organization (who) reminded all countries, including those that have successfully contained the virus, to remain vigilant and prepare for a second peak of covid-19.

In fact, there is a widespread concern in the medical community that when the summer is over, as the weather cools and the outbreak is under control, there will be bad news again in areas where it is already under control.

Against such a “long struggle”, the hope is still vaccines.

Without a vaccine, “all we can do is contain the source of infection and block the path of transmission.”
According to xiong sidong, President of soochow university and an expert on immunology, the only measure that has proved effective so far is strict social isolation.

In an earlier analysis, imperial college London said that if the vaccine did not emerge, the cycle of closure, social isolation and social unclosure could continue indefinitely.

If a vaccine does not arrive in time, how long will it last?
Five years, according to another study.

The fulcrum of the “return to pre-epidemic”

No one wants to face such a situation.

Covid-19 has already crippled the global economy.
The world economic situation and outlook, released by the United Nations department of economic and social affairs, said the global economy would shrink by 3.2 percent in 2020, the steepest contraction since the great depression of 1930.
In the last two years, the global economy will lose a cumulative $8.5 trillion, equivalent to the economic gains of all countries in the previous four years.

The blockade is also costly.

In a recent report, the Asian development bank said border controls and travel restrictions in response to the outbreak would reduce global trade by $1.7 trillion to $2.6 trillion.
Economic activity across the region was paralyzed, and hundreds of millions of people around the world were out of work.
Corresponding to this, is the aviation, tourism, performance, cinema, catering and other industries suffered a huge impact.

In addition to these visible losses, there are also invisible hazards.

The epidemic has created social divisions. Isolation has not only created distance between people, but also cast a shadow of suspicion and mistrust in some parts of the world. It has even disrupted the global supply chain system and created new cracks in the globalized world.

If there is to be a “return to pre-epidemic” status, if there is to be an end to controls and social isolation, the hope for now is still vaccines.
If the vaccine is available, countries and regions with the right conditions will have greater flexibility in adjusting their prevention and control strategies.

Good public policy, when conditions permit, should strike a balance between protecting people’s health and trying to mitigate the political, social and economic impact, said yan zhong huang, a U.S. public health expert and director of the center for global health studies at northwestern university.

But for now, it’s still a problem.
Without a vaccine and tools to control the risk of the spread of the epidemic, the adjustment of prevention and control strategies should not be carried out cautiously.

Since January this year, covid-19 has been included in the national law on the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases.
Even in cases where the number of cases is already small, a high-risk response needs to be maintained to prevent a resurgence, even if it significantly reduces the efficiency of social operations.

How far away is the vaccine?

“When can I get the vaccine?”
It became the question everyone was asking.

The common answer in medicine, from a scientific standpoint, is that no one knows for sure.
Even the vaccine “vanguard” of clinical trials is very early.

The Oxford vaccine, for example, is part of this vanguard, with a research team predicting it could be available by September.
But its setback is yet another reminder that the plan to rely on vaccines to “get back to the pre-epidemic” may still face many uncertainties.

One expert interviewed told the paper that it generally takes between eight and 17 years for a vaccine to go from the laboratory to its use in the conventional process.
It took nearly five years to develop the mumps vaccine, which took the shortest time in history.

The development of covid-19 vaccine has been extremely rapid.

It is a recognized fact that since the release of novel coronavirus whole genome sequence in China on January 10, 10 vaccines have entered into clinical trials in more than four months, among which 3 are in clinical phase II and 5 are undergoing phase I and phase II combined clinical trials.

Gregory Poland, director of Vaccine research at the Mayo clinic and editor of the journal Vaccine, likened the development of a new Vaccine to “building an airplane while flying” — a sign of the enormous risks.
Errors in any of the details, whether the vaccine itself or the test method, can lead to failure.

The bigger challenge is to be safe and efficient, in addition to being fast.
Who officials recently reiterated that there are no shortcuts to vaccine development and that “it must be done in accordance with safe and effective standards, and no steps can be skipped.”

So, given the current state of development, a relatively common judgment in the medical community is that it will probably take 12 to 18 months to develop a safe and effective vaccine.

So who will get the go-ahead to market those “seed players” who enter clinical trials?

The answer is still unknown.
“So we’re encouraging multiple technology paths to go hand in hand.”
Richard Hatchett, CEO of the alliance for innovation in epidemic preparedness (CEPI), says competition encourages good ideas, which increases the chances of finding a viable vaccine.
China’s covid-19 vaccine research, for example, initially covered five major technical routes.

Everything has been worked out for the vaccine, including the government.
The Chinese government has long raised the development of covid-19 vaccine to the level of a major national project, requiring that a vaccine be developed as soon as possible at all costs.
It also means a huge investment, estimated by international organizations at more than $2 billion in the next decade alone.

A series of complex issues such as production, procurement, transportation and injection distribution remain between finding a vaccine and eventually making it available to all and controlling the epidemic.
For example, in the selection of alternative vaccines, both at home and abroad take “mass production” as an important indicator.

So far, the world is still working on the first problem — finding a covid-19 vaccine, which will be the first critical step in the fight against covid-19.

With more than 370,000 confirmed covid-19 cases in Russia, many people remain skeptical about the danger of the virus.
Russian presidential press secretary dmitry peskov urged people to change their minds and take the novel coronavirus virus seriously, ria novosti reported.
“In my personal experience, this’ joke ‘[about viruses being dangerous] is true,” he was quoted as saying on the same day.

About 30 percent of russians are skeptical about the danger of a novel coronavirus, while 23 percent believe reports of the virus’s dangers have a “political element” linked to the interests of certain individuals, according to an opinion poll cited by ria novosti.
Peskov was asked by a reporter on May 28 whether the kremlin had seen people’s distrust of official information from some Russian people who questioned the danger of novel coronavirus.
Mr. Peskov responded that this could be because people don’t want to watch the news or observe how many people around them are sick and how they get sick.

Peskov also called for people to take the information seriously and show more trust, the report said.
Not only that, but he cited himself as an example. “in my personal experience, this’ joke ‘[about viruses being dangerous] is true,” he said.

On May 12, peskov and his wife were both diagnosed with covid-19 and hospitalized.
A dozen days later, local time 25, peskov recovered from the hospital.

Positive results from phase I clinical trials of a novel coronavirus vaccine candidate developed by a Chinese team have been reported in a paper published in the lancet.
Scientists in the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries have praised the progress made in the development of a covid-19 vaccine.

Robert scully, chairman of the department of infectious diseases at the university of California, San Diego, told xinhua that volunteers given three different doses of the vaccine candidate all developed neutralizing antibodies and t-cell immune responses against novel coronavirus and showed good tolerance.
Within 28 days of vaccination, most people had more than a fourfold increase in antibodies, an “encouraging” result.

The British empire, says Daniel altman, a professor at the institute of immunology is this report will be coronavirus vaccine clinical trials of the first paper, vaccine induced produced the neutralizing antibody response associated with vaccination dose, volunteers also have no serious adverse reaction, so the beginning “very good”, “quite comforting” test results.

“The clinical trial results from the Chinese team send a positive message to the international community that this vaccine may be effective in preventing novel coronavirus infection, which is very important for epidemic control,” said Stanley perlman, professor of microbiology and immunology at the university of Iowa.

Clinical trials conducted by the China academy of military medical academy of military sciences, biotechnology research institute academician of age and the centers for disease control and prevention in jiangsu province, deputy director of the team, led by professor feng-cai zhu et al, experimental vaccine is a recombinant adenovirus vector will be coronavirus vaccine, harmless after using modified adenovirus type 5 as the carrier, to the human body will be coronavirus spike protein gene.
The 108 adult volunteers, aged between 18 and 60, were divided into groups and given different doses of the vaccine.

Age in the lancet, a press release, relevant results should be treated with caution, the development will be coronavirus vaccine will face unprecedented challenges, and can cause immune response doesn’t necessarily mean that it protects people from will be coronavirus infection, the latest achievements “shows will be coronavirus vaccine development good prospects, but from the vaccine to let all of us use the stage there are still a long way to go”.

Experts are also cautious about the prospect of adenovirus vector vaccines, noting that one of the major challenges is to overcome “preexisting immunity” and that further clinical trials are still needed to verify the vaccine’s effectiveness in preventing novel coronavirus infection.

According to introducing, the majority of people have been infected with 5 type adenovirus in the course of growing up, inside the body may exist antibody to attack vaccine carrier, reduce the effect of vaccine, this is “preexistence immunity”.
The data showed that volunteers with high levels of adenovirus preantibody showed a relatively weak immune response to novel coronavirus infection after vaccination, a limitation common in other adenovirus vector vaccines, scully said.

“As the body’s immunity to adenovirus persists, the immune response to the vaccine becomes weaker and weaker,” scully said.
If the immunity induced by the covid-19 vaccine against the type 5 adenovirus vector declines rapidly, it is necessary to re-vaccinate every two years, and it is likely that covid-19 vaccines with other types of adenovirus vectors will be developed as an alternative vaccine for re-vaccination.

Novel coronavirus is a novel virus with no known cure, said zhang wenwen, a professor of epidemiology and associate dean of the university of California, Los Angeles school of public health.
The primary purpose of phase 1 trial is to observe the physical reactions and side effects of inoculation in volunteers. Phase 2 and phase 3 clinical trials need to further verify whether the vaccine is effective in preventing novel coronavirus infection through a randomized, double-blind, controlled method.

The experts also stressed the importance of strengthening international cooperation to speed up the fight against covid-19.
According to the world health organization, more than 120 vaccine candidates are being developed worldwide.

‘there is a great diversity of forms of covid-19 vaccine being developed around the world, giving different information about protection capacity, safety, sustainability, and ease of production and supply,’ Mr. Altman said.

Altman stressed that the development of a covid-19 vaccine should not be viewed as a race.
By coolly assessing the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate vaccine, it is possible to find the best solution.
Achieving this goal will require the utmost effort of international cooperation.
There is a lot of pressure on all sides to start producing a vaccine before the end of the year, but “we should all be clear that what we need is a vaccine that is proven to be safe and effective”.

Researchers work at the miguel – galilee institute in northern Israel on February 27, 2020.The Israeli ministry of science and technology announced the same day, the institute is developing a new coronavirus vaccine.(xinhua/gini)

Beijing, May 24 (xinhua) –While the world is looking forward to the early success of covid-19 vaccine development, international cooperation can provide “acceleration” in all aspects of vaccine development and production, from basic research and clinical trials to vaccine preparation, production and distribution.Extensive international cooperation from governments, international organizations, non-profit organizations, and businesses can promote rapid access to vaccines and contribute to equitable global access to vaccines once they are available.

Promoting rapid access to vaccines

In the battle against novel coronavirus, all aspects of vaccine development are in the “fast lane” compared with those of the past.

According to the world health organization, more than 120 vaccine candidates are being developed worldwide.According to the data provided by the bill & Melinda gates foundation in the United States, four vaccines have entered phase ii clinical trials, three vaccines are undergoing phase I and phase ii clinical trials at the same time, and two vaccines are undergoing phase I trials.

Who has launched the access to covid-19 tool accelerator international collaboration initiative to accelerate the development, production and equitable distribution of covid-19 vaccines, diagnostic and therapeutic tools.

“Vaccine research requires greater coordination in identifying vaccine candidates and establishing guidelines for vaccine efficacy and safety to support relevant certification in countries…Find the best way to eventually mass-produce a vaccine and vaccinate people.I am very pleased that the who has put in place a mechanism for this.”Dr David navarro, who director-general’s special envoy for covid-19 response and co-director of the institute for global health innovation at imperial college London, told xinhua.

The alliance for innovation in pandemic preparedness (CEPI) has also funded a number of vaccine development projects around the world in the wake of the covid-19 outbreak.As of May 11, the group had supported nine projects worth $448 million.CEPI CEO Richard hatchet said recently that there are three goals for the development of a covid-19 vaccine — speed, scale and accessibility: to develop a vaccine as soon as possible;After the successful development of a vaccine in the face of global demand, to increase the scale of production;Vaccines are available in rich, middle-income and poor countries around the world.

Experts say that in the face of the pandemic, a large supply of vaccine is needed to achieve widespread coverage.This poses significant challenges to the production and distribution of vaccines after development and requires strong international cooperation to ensure vaccine supplies.

Chinese companies have actively participated in building a global vaccine industry chain.For example, Shanghai fosun pharmaceutical group and BioNTech, a German company, have reached a cooperative intention to jointly promote the development of clinical trials and subsequent commercialization of mRNA covid-19 vaccine in China.

“In the future, if the vaccine is developed, China has a strong capacity in vaccine production, which can help the world to scale up the production of covid-19 vaccine faster, so as to protect healthy people from infection.”Xu xiaoning, professor of human immunology at imperial college London, told xinhua.

A screenshot of a video provided by the university of Oxford, UK, shows a volunteer taking part in a clinical trial of the coronavirus vaccine at the university of Oxford, UK, on April 23, 2020.(xinhua/ap)

Ensuring equitable access to vaccines

Viruses know no borders, and all peoples have the right to equal access to vaccines.International cooperation can help make vaccines equally accessible on a global scale.

The recently concluded 73rd world health assembly adopted a resolution stressing that priority should be given to ensuring equitable distribution of all high-quality basic health technologies needed to respond to the covid-19 pandemic, and that covid-19 vaccines should be included as global public health products.

“Once you have a vaccine, if you want to achieve universal immunization faster and more efficiently, then there are extremely complex issues of vaccine delivery that need to be coordinated and addressed, from capacity to price, to access and implementation of vaccination programs in individual countries.So how to mass produce a covid-19 vaccine for global benefit is something that must be considered now.””Said li yinuo, chief representative of the gates foundation in Beijing.

Due to technological backwardness and weak economic foundation, people in less developed areas and marginalized and impoverished populations are particularly vulnerable to covid-19.International multilateral organizations and mechanisms, including the g20, who, and the alliance for innovation in pandemic preparedness, are working for equitable global access to vaccine production, distribution, and protection of marginalized populations.

“We need a fair global distribution system that works for years after a vaccine is developed.The system requires funding, management and global support and collaboration.”Hatchett said a global pandemic is one that crosses borders, and countries cannot close themselves off. It is a collective effort to solve the problem.

The global alliance for vaccines and immunization (GAVI) has been working to promote vaccines around the world, especially in poor areas.Speaking at the global health and development media workshop, Seth berkley, CEO of the organization, which has funded the promotion of hepatitis b vaccines in China, said that China has moved from being a recipient of the organization to a donor in 2015, with high-quality, low-cost je vaccines made in China available to a number of countries in southeast Asia.The refrigeration storage technology of Chinese enterprises such as aokema and haier also provides great help for cold chain transportation of vaccines. “China has played a very important role in the global vaccine work”.

International aid for support from countries especially developing countries affected by the outbreak, to commitment to China’s new crown vaccine development completed and put into use after will serve as a global public goods, China has responded to by the practical action who initiative on global cooperation, in order to promote the fair distribution of relevant products, in an effort to maintain the global health security and the fight against the disease.

“Although the virus appears to have temporarily torn a hole in the international community, the common destiny of mankind is interdependence, not isolation.”From this perspective, the significance of the covid-19 vaccine is not only to save lives, but also to restore the global political and economic order.””Said Mr. Li.