WHO Chief Scientist Says Oxford Vaccine Trial Pause A Wake-Up Call For All Of Us
The Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine trial had been put on hold after one of the participants suffered from neurological symptoms. This halted the trials happening not just around the world but also the ones being carried out by the Serum Institute of India.
A few days ago, we all heard the news we didn¡¯t wish to hear. The Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine trial had been put on hold after one of the participants suffered from neurological symptoms.
This halted the trials happening not just around the world but also the ones being carried out by the Serum Institute of India.
Reuters
Reported first by Reuters, WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan, in a virtual briefing said that such situations are common to occur in medical trials and that we have to be prepared for it, but at the same time we mustn't feel discouraged. She said, "This is a wake-up call to recognise that there are ups and downs in clinical development and that we have to be prepared. We do not have to be discouraged. These things happen."
WHO¡¯s head of emergencies, Mike Ryan reiterated that bringing a vaccine out fastest shouldn¡¯t be the only objective for pharmaceutical companies and it isn¡¯t a competition between themselves, "It's a race against this virus, and it's a race to save lives. It's not a race between companies, and it's not a race between countries."
Until the vaccine, social distancing is our only protection
Today, over 27 million people around the world have been infected with the novel coronavirus while it has claimed lives of over 900,000. However, without the vaccine or appropriate treatment existing for the novel coronavirus, social distancing, wearing face masks and personal hygiene are of utmost importance.
Moreover, according to WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove, early diagnosis and proper clinical care are the factors that are helping people recover "We are in a better position to prevent the virus from infecting vulnerable populations."
Reuters
Oxford-AstraZeneca was one of the first vaccine makers in the race and is already several paces ahead of vaccines developed by Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and others.
Developed by Sarah Gilbert and her team at Oxford, the vaccine is a viral vector type vaccine that makes use of a harmless adenovirus to deliver the genetic material of a pathogen into cells. This genetic material then generates an immune response in the body against the real pathogen.
The process is different from traditional vaccines that use weakened or inactivated form of the pathogen to stimulate an immune response. This new method is mentioned to be easier and hence quicker to develop.