COVID-19 has upended our lives, and we’ve all heard that there will be no return to “full normal” until there is a vaccine for the virus. But how close are we to a vaccine? What steps need to be taken? And how long will that take? Here’s a closer look.
COVID-19 has upended our lives, and we’ve all heard that there will be no return to “full normal” until there is a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that has caused the pandemic. But how long will that take? What steps need to happen along the way? And where are we now? Here’s a closer look.
How long will it take to develop a vaccine against the coronavirus?
When the World Health Organization first named the disease in February, it said the first vaccine wouldn’t be available for 18 months. Since then, U.S. experts have said it would likely take 12 to 18 months, while the European Medicines Agency has said a vaccine could be approved in about a year in an “optimistic” scenario.
That’s much faster than the five to 10 years it normally takes to develop a vaccine.
WATCH | The race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine:
Chris Glover looks at the process involved in developing a vaccine the whole world is waiting on. 3:03
How is vaccine development going for COVID-19?
The good news: it’s going much faster than normal.
The first human vaccine trials began in March, just two months after the virus and the disease were identified. With the SARS epidemic in 2003, it took 20 months for a vaccine to get to the stage where it was ready for human testing —although the vaccine was never developed, as the epidemic was over by then.
As of May 15, the World Health Organization reported that there were 110 candidate vaccines in preclinical evaluation around the world, and eight in human phase 1 and phase 2 trials. A phase 1 trial has been approved by Health Canada to take place in Halifax.
How do scientists come up with vaccine candidates?
Vaccines work by introducing your immune system to a germ or a piece of a germ so it will recognize it and learn to fight it off. Strategies for targeting the new coronavirus include using:
- A weakened but “live” virus.
- A dead or inactivated virus.
- A recognizable component or piece of the virus such as a protein or sugar.
- Genetically engineered RNA or DNA — this is a new approach being tried for this coronavirus. In most cases, it targets genetic material with instructions for making the S-protein, which forms the crown-like spikes on the surface that gives coronavirus its name and bind to human cells to infect them.
Initial lab tests in petri dishes and test tubes show whether a particular approach has the potential to be effective as a vaccine.
What is preclinical evaluation?
Tests that don’t involve humans are called “preclinicial.”
Once a vaccine candidate shows promise in the lab, tests are run in animals to show it is safe and effective.
The World Health Organization says those tests are used to help:
- Ensure none of the ingredients are toxic or react with trace impurities to produce toxic effects, and they don’t interact negatively with other vaccines given at the same time.
- Determine the dose needed to induce an immune response.
Animal testing usually takes three to six months, according to the U.S.-based Mayo Clinic.
However, animals don’t necessarily react the same way as humans to either an infectious agent such as a virus or to a vaccine. That’s why vaccines that make it through preclinical evaluation don’t necessarily go on to become vaccines.