Coronavirus vaccine update: From Covaxin's safe results to Oxford phase III trials, all fresh updates you need to know today

There are now over 25.3 million COVID-19 infection cases in the world, with over 170 vaccine groups working on developing an effective vaccine. Only a handful among these, frontrunner candidates have reached critical phases of development and planning to roll out vaccines in the coming months. Here's a refresher on the latest updates regarding top COVID vaccines as we brace for the new normal.

Covaxin, which is one of India's prime vaccine candidates is all set to enter mid-scale phase II trials. Observatory data from phase I trial stipulates that the vaccine, made using an inactive strain of the virus shows positive immunogenicity response and is side-effect free. Doctors at the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, faculty of medical sciences collected blood samples of volunteers who were dosed with the experimental shot of the vaccine.

Principal Investigator, Dr E.V. Rao mentioned, "Two doses of the vaccine were administered to each volunteer after they were selected through a screening process conducted over a period of three to seven days prior to vaccination. The first dose was administered on Day Zero while the blood sample was collected. The second dose was given on Day 14 and the blood sample was also collected,"

Blood serum samples will continue to be analyzed after a week's time to make further evaluations. There's also active participation across the country, for phase II trials. It is now being said that top-level officials are revising protocols and ramping up production channels so as to speed up trials.

This is not the first time positive safety data has been observed in Covaxin trials. Early reports emerging out of Rohtak, which was selected as a trial centre said that the vaccine was able to elicit safe immunogenicity response and resulted in no considerable side-effects. Evidence of side-effects is detrimental to the vaccine working for high-risk and elderly age groups. Knowing the shortcomings and possible side-effects beforehand can prepare us for the future.

AstraZeneca, which has partnered with the University of Oxford in the vaccine race has successfully entered phase III critical trials in the US. The Oxford vaccine was one of the first ones to have entered into human clinical trials and announced the start of phase III. The news of the start of US leg of the trials was announced by Donald Trump himself, recently.

British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant, AstraZeneca has also entered into a strategic partnership with global firms. According to a briefing, the company is looking to enrol up to 30,000 adults across 80 sites in the US.

"Trial centres across the US are recruiting up to 30,000 adults aged 18 years or over from diverse racial, ethnic and geographic groups who are healthy or have stable underlying medical conditions, including those living with HIV, and who are at increased risk of infection from the SARS-CoV-2 virus,"

Meanwhile, Oxford University has also started dosing volunteers with shots of the experimental, AZD-1222 vaccine (which will be branded as Covishield) in India, which is in phase II/III. Serum Institute of India, Pune, which is overseeing trials and production in India has selected over 17 sites across India. Nearly 1600 volunteers will be involved in the first round. Amongst the first ones to receive the shot are people in their 30s and 40s- while one holds a PhD, one works in the healthcare sector. Serum Institute will also help the research group develop low-cost, an affordable vaccine for developing nations. There are high hopes that the Oxford vaccine, which has also been considered to be the safest till now, will be the first ones to be made available for Indian masses.

While global vaccine groups devise rules and policies for late-phase trials, it has been reported that some sections of the Chinese population have already been dosed with an experimental vaccine developed locally, in China. The news comes after Chinese authorities issued emergency approval for vaccine use amongst high-risk categories. Of the five vaccines being worked on by scientists, Cansino Biologics's novel vaccine, AD5-NCOV is the most promising one in late stages of testing. Another vaccine developed by Sinopharm is also being tested. Recipients who received the first shots of the vaccine said they experienced little to no side-effects or other adverse reactions.

China is also said to be in talks with countries like Pakistan, Morocco, Indonesia and Taiwan for testing and delivering doses in the future. However, just like the Russian vaccine, there is no scientific data about the vaccine's working and efficacy.

One of the biggest limitations which vaccine makers have been currently dealing with is eliciting safety response in high-risk categories. Moderna, which is working on developing an mRNA vaccine has now proven that its vaccine candidate, indeed is safe for elderlies. New safety data from an early trial has now provided evidence, which is the first of its kind that the vaccine is able to produce antibodies and spark immunity in elderlies. The study also found that people above the age of 55 produced almost an equivalent number of antibodies as the younger population. According to reports, the limited trial used the same dose of the vaccine that’s now being given to subjects in a final-stage trial. The dose elicited antibody levels higher than those typically seen in people recovering from the virus.

Apart from this, Moderna Therapeutics has also signed a strategic partnership with Japan to produce and supply at least 40 million doses of its vaccine once approvals are met. The vaccine is expected to launch in the coming months. Critical trials are being conducted right now.

Russia, which became the first country in the world to successfully register a COVID-19 vaccine has said that it plans to start large-level mass deliveries of its experimental vaccine in the coming weeks. The first group of volunteers in the Soviet nation are currently being dosed. Earmarked 'Sputnik V', in homage to the Russian satellite, Russia is also in talks with as many as 20 countries to regulate usage and supply doses in millions, even though there continue to be doubts over the vaccine's safety and super-fast trials.

Apart from this, work on the second Russian vaccine, developed by Siberian vector institute is also going on. Authorities are also conducting simultaneous phase II/III trails to root out fears. Some 2,500 out of 40,000 volunteers have been recruited for Phase 3 trials of the vaccine so far. Many other vaccines are also in the development stage right now.

American drugmaker, Pfizer, which is developing a COVID-19 vaccine in partnership with German firm BionTech is also in late-stage phase III trials. New reports have emerged which suggest that the vaccine, BN162b2 could apply for regulatory licensing as early as October. The announcement comes after US FDA announced talks of fast-tracking vaccine launch this year.

However, the vaccine candidate also found itself in some trouble. While companies are proposing rules for supply and deliveries, it is being said that vaccine doses, such as that of Pfizer's, which require extremely cold temperatures to be stored in could end up suffering from logistical hiccups and such storage concerns could derail plans of effective launch in the current timeline.