I’ve been doing a bit of reading about the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus, designated Covid-19, and the prospects for a vaccine, and apparently it’s not that straightforward. Coronaviruses don’t trigger a long lasting immunity, and like the common cold, which is sometimes caused by a human coronavirus, we can get infected repeatedly, and there is no cure.
Like other upper respiratory viruses, you don’t tend to succumb to the virus itself, but rather secondary issues like pneumonia, and people with other underlying health issues are at extreme risk. Diabetes is a factor in a quarter of all deaths, obesity, heart problems, emphysema, smoking, drug use, etc. follow closely. These then lead to the pneumonia, blood clots and other issues that cause death. Older people, diabetics, smokers, the obese, and those with poor health are at the biggest risk of dying from Covid-19.
So what about a vaccine? Even if a safe and effective vaccine is developed it will probably only give short term immunity and have to be administered yearly or more often. The main issue is that Covid-19 is an upper respiratory infection, which is basically part of the body’s epidural layer, e.g. the skin. How do you get a vaccine into the epidural layer without creating massive problems for the rest of the body? Of the 100 or so vaccine candidates being worked on, 10 are on accelerated human trials. They are all using a number of different approaches to try and generate an immune response, ranging from traditional inactivated vaccine, non-replicating viral vector vaccine, RNA vaccine, protein subunit vaccine, and DNA vaccine.
Some early results from a RNA vaccine – Moderna (USA), showed promise with 8 of 45 healthy participants showing immune responses similar to those who had had the virus, but then they blew it by refusing to release information on the other 37 participants.
The non-replicating viral vector vaccine from Oxford University and AstraZeneca (UK) is showing promise, with rhesus macaque monkeys vaccinated and then exposed to high levels of Sars-CoV-2 showing lower levels of the virus in their lungs and upper respiratory tracts, but being protected from developing pneumonia, the leading cause of death. There is a trial of 6,000 human volunteers in the UK starting the end of May, 2020, and based on the results production could be fast tracked.
The interesting thing about this viral vector vaccine is that they are using a modified version of the common cold virus which carries a protein from Sars-CoV-2 into the body. “The goal is to stimulate an immune response and prime the body to respond to any future infection”.
Whatever happens, no vaccine is 100% effective, and we will probably end up with multiple vaccines, and Covid-19 is probably here to stay. Probably the best course for individuals is to follow hygiene protocols, e.g. hand washing, no face touching, and keep in mind social distancing.
If possible, do something to address lifestyle issues like smoking, obesity, etc.
Cheers.
Like other upper respiratory viruses, you don’t tend to succumb to the virus itself, but rather secondary issues like pneumonia, and people with other underlying health issues are at extreme risk. Diabetes is a factor in a quarter of all deaths, obesity, heart problems, emphysema, smoking, drug use, etc. follow closely. These then lead to the pneumonia, blood clots and other issues that cause death. Older people, diabetics, smokers, the obese, and those with poor health are at the biggest risk of dying from Covid-19.
So what about a vaccine? Even if a safe and effective vaccine is developed it will probably only give short term immunity and have to be administered yearly or more often. The main issue is that Covid-19 is an upper respiratory infection, which is basically part of the body’s epidural layer, e.g. the skin. How do you get a vaccine into the epidural layer without creating massive problems for the rest of the body? Of the 100 or so vaccine candidates being worked on, 10 are on accelerated human trials. They are all using a number of different approaches to try and generate an immune response, ranging from traditional inactivated vaccine, non-replicating viral vector vaccine, RNA vaccine, protein subunit vaccine, and DNA vaccine.
Some early results from a RNA vaccine – Moderna (USA), showed promise with 8 of 45 healthy participants showing immune responses similar to those who had had the virus, but then they blew it by refusing to release information on the other 37 participants.
The non-replicating viral vector vaccine from Oxford University and AstraZeneca (UK) is showing promise, with rhesus macaque monkeys vaccinated and then exposed to high levels of Sars-CoV-2 showing lower levels of the virus in their lungs and upper respiratory tracts, but being protected from developing pneumonia, the leading cause of death. There is a trial of 6,000 human volunteers in the UK starting the end of May, 2020, and based on the results production could be fast tracked.
The interesting thing about this viral vector vaccine is that they are using a modified version of the common cold virus which carries a protein from Sars-CoV-2 into the body. “The goal is to stimulate an immune response and prime the body to respond to any future infection”.
Whatever happens, no vaccine is 100% effective, and we will probably end up with multiple vaccines, and Covid-19 is probably here to stay. Probably the best course for individuals is to follow hygiene protocols, e.g. hand washing, no face touching, and keep in mind social distancing.
If possible, do something to address lifestyle issues like smoking, obesity, etc.
Cheers.
Some interesting articles:
www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/22/why-we-might-not-get-a-coronavirus-vaccine
www.abc.net.au/news/health/2020-05-24/coronavirus-vaccine-race/12277558
www.abc.net.au/news/health/2020-04-17/coronavirus-vaccine-ian-frazer/12146616
www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-11/trial-to-test-if-tuberculosis-vaccine-boosts-covid-19-immunity/12142230
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3749764/
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html