The first corona vaccine is expected in the first months of 2021, said Minister Hugo de Jonge during the press conference on Tuesday, September 1. An update on the current status of the candidate vaccines against corona.
No vaccine has yet been registered, but the leading group now contains no fewer than 8 vaccines. She is being tested in phase 3 research, which means that they are tested on large groups of people. If the vaccines do indeed give an immune response in the body and acceptable side effects, registration is the next step. When all the data has been weighed and weighed, it may be given to people. Hence the estimate that the first vaccine will not be ready until 2021.
The leading group is followed by a large platoon of about 170 candidate vaccines, 33 of which are in the clinical phase, which means that they are being tested in humans. So many contenders, but all vaccines still have to be extensively tested. Many will lose weight in this process. The World Health Organization WHO keeps track of research in this overview.
Tuberculosis Vaccine
All those corona vaccines are new, we don’t know yet what they will do in humans. Research is also being conducted into an old friend: the hundred-year-old BCG vaccine against tuberculosis. A Greek study to the elderly showed that they developed fewer infections after a BCG injection. After a ‘placebo’ injection (without active ingredient), 42% of the people got an infection, with a BCG injection it was much less: 25%. Respiratory infections in particular were prevented. The tuberculosis vaccine may therefore also protect against the lung symptoms of Covid. There is now started a follow-up investigation into the protection provided by the BCG vaccine in 22 hospitals for six thousand frail elderly people.
At the beginning of the corona crisis, Nijmegen and Utrecht were set up an investigation to this vaccine among healthcare providers. The hope was that it would protect healthcare providers from Covid. The outcome of this is not yet known.
Who gets it
If a vaccine has been registered, that doesn’t mean you can get it. It must also be available in the Netherlands for this. The Dutch government, together with other European countries, has already purchased millions of doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, a major contender. Other countries such as the US and Australia have also made purchases there.
The risk arose that all the rich countries would buy up the vaccines on the world market in advance and the less wealthy countries would be left empty-handed. An initiative, co-sponsored by billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates, is now being bought together with poorer countries.
