Covid 19, is no doubt one of the worst disaster and pandemic ever experienced by people around the globe. Its casualty figures are frightening and the infection is still spreading at enough speed giving rise to the emergency need of an antidote. When the world was desperately looking for a vaccine, Russians provided with the first ray of hope in developing the corona vaccine. Sputnik V – formerly known as Gam-COVID-Vac was developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute in Moscow – was approved by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation on 11 August. Experts have raised considerable concern about the vaccine’s safety and efficacy given it has not yet entered Phase 3 clinical trials. The US government has chosen three vaccine candidates to fund for Phase 3 trials under Operation Warp Speed: Moderna’s mRNA-1273, The University of Oxford and AstraZeneca’s AZD1222, and Pfizer and BioNTech’s BNT162. Members of ACTIV have suggested developing safe controlled human infection models (CHIMs) for human trials could take 1-2 years. A sponsor would need to provide data from placebo-controlled trials indicating their vaccine is at least 50% effective against COVID-19 in order to be authorized for use, according to FDA guidance issued and effective 30 June. India is also in line to produce its own swadeshi vaccine named covaxin from Bharat Biotech; National Institute of Virology. The vaccine received DCGI approval for Phase I & II Human Clinical Trials and the trials will commence across India from July, 2020.
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