An Oxford University professor who is currently leading Britain's most advanced search for a vaccine for coronavirus, stated that it could be ready by September and she is 80% confident that her team's development would work.
In March, Professor Sarah Gilbert was hopeful that the vaccine could be developed by the end of 2020, but she has now confirmed that human trials could be in the next fortnight.
Coronavirus vaccine
The government indicated in that past that it would fund the manufacture of vaccine doses for millions of people around the world, and this will allow immediate availability to the public once developed. Although there were warnings from other experts that a vaccine could take 18 months to produce, Professor Gilbert said that the most bullish scenario for a working product was September as long as the plan goes smoothly.
Professor Gilbert told the Times that she thinks there is a high chance that it will work based on other things that they have done with this type of vaccine. She also said that it is not just a hunch and as every week goes by, they have more data to look at. She went for 80% as her personal view.
Professor Gilbert's team is working to find a vaccine and they will try it in a country with a high virus transmission rate in order to get results fast. Because of Britain's lockdown, vaccines are harder to test because the virus can't spread.
Professor Gilbert's team was already in talks with the government overproduction in order to avoid any delays and a second infection spike in autumn. She said that they do not want to get to later this year and discover that they have a highly effective vaccine and they have no vaccine to use. She also said that they do not think they need facilities built because there are facilities that can be switched over.
Funding the vaccine
Ministers have stated that spending tens of millions on a working vaccine is worth it, as it can offset the economic cost of lockdown. Health experts have stated that the coronavirus is mutating at a slower rate than several other respiratory viruses, particularly the flu. However, scientists say that the mutations do not vary from the virus that originated in Wuhan, China, nor are they more severe.
This means that once a vaccine is available, it would give protection against both the original virus and mutations, and it would give protection for years. The new virus, also known as SARS-CoV-2, is an RNA virus, which means that it has RNA as its genetic material.
RNA viruses, such as the flu, enter the cells through a receptor that is found on the surface and then make hundreds of copies of themselves that can infect cells throughout the body. RNA viruses often mutate, unlike DNA viruses, which include chickenpox and herpes.
According to Dr. Mark Schleiss, a professor in the division of pediatric infectious diseases and immunology at the University of Minnesota Medical School, in the world of RNA viruses, change is the norm. He told Healthline that the flu mutates every year, which is why researchers have to create vaccines to protect people against the most prevalent strains.
The novel coronavirus has mutated and currently, it has eight strains that are making their way around the world. But the virus has mutated very slowly, and its mutations are similar to the original virus. This means that the mutations that hit the US and Europe are not different from the virus that first appeared in Wuhan, China nor are they more infections or fatal.
