“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.”
— William Wilberforce
There are more than 150 experimental COVID-19 vaccines under development around the world, all of which are being designed for intramuscular injection.1 Some researchers are investigating whether the conventional intramuscular injection route is less effective when using vaccines to prevent microbial infections that invade the respiratory airway like SARS-CoV-2.2 Avery August, PhD, an immunologist at […]
The University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute and Oxford Vaccine Group in the United Kingdom has announced that its researchers have begun recruiting children aged five to 12 years for phase II and phase III clinical trials testing an experimental COVID-19 vaccine the university is developing in partnership with AstraZeneca plc.1 Oxford’s ChAdOx1 nCov-19 (“chimpanzee adenovirus […]
In an interview with the JAMA on June 2, 2020, Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) said that while he was “cautiously optimistic” about the effectiveness of the vaccines being developed for COVID-19, he was concerned that any protection the vaccines may provide might only be temporary. […]
Story Highlights The Chicago Department of Public Health has launched a website and a mobile device application encouraging residents to pre-register to get for a future COVID-19 vaccine. Chicago’s Mayor said the electronic database will be used to prepare plans for mass vaccination of all residents after a COVID-19 vaccine is licensed by the FDA […]
Story Highlights GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur are partnering to develop an experimental COVID-19 vaccine. The two global vaccine manufacturers are using existing recombinant DNA vaccine technology and a squalene adjuvant for their COVID-19 vaccine. Clinical trials are scheduled to begin in the second half of 2020 and, if successful, the vaccine will be available in […]
In recent weeks Inovio Pharmaceuticals of Pennsylvania and representatives of the German biotechnology firm CureVac AG and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom have announced that their experimental COVID-19 vaccines will be ready for use by September 2020. On Apr. 29, 2020, Pfizer, Inc. of New York stated in a news release that […]
On Mar. 17, 2020, European Commission (EC) president Ursula von der Leyen said she was hopeful a vaccine for COVID-19 could be available this September. Her view was based on conversations she had had with managers of German biotechnology firm CureVac AG which has developed an experimental messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine that it plans to […]
Story Highlights Inovio Pharmaceuticals has started Phase 1 testing of its experimental COVID-19 DNA vaccine in healthy volunteers. The U.S. biotech firm has already produced enough of the vaccine to support Phase 1 (immune system reactivity and safety) and Phase 2 (efficacy) testing and plans to have one million doses ready for distribution by the […]
Vaccine developers at the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Vaccine Research (CVR) have taken a part of the coronavirus involved in COVID-19 infection and attached it to a genetically modified measles vaccine that has been used for many years.1 According to CVR Director Dr. Paul Duprex, “CVR has a mandated role to respond rapidly to […]
Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates predicted on Mar. 18, 2020 that the first licensed coronavirus vaccines for COVID-19 will be available within 18 months and that health care workers will be among the first to get the shots. Gates co-chairs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which recently invested $50 million to develop a […]