A harmonized and collaborative approach to the clinical testing, scale-up and distribution of candidate vaccines to prevent COVID-19 is essential, scientific leaders write in a perspective published today in Science.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, government, industry and academia have introduced a variety of vaccine candidates. The authors note that more than one effective vaccine approach likely will be required to successfully protect the global community from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. They describe a strategic approach to research and development that would generate essential data for multiple vaccine candidates in parallel.
National Institutes of Health Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Lawrence Corey, M.D., professor in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, and John R. Mascola, M.D., director of NIAID’s Vaccine Research Center are the co-authors of the commentary.
The perspective discusses diverse vaccine candidates and key considerations for development, including the characteristics of various vaccine platforms in terms of prior commercial experience, scalability, and the types of immune responses generated. It also emphasizes that no single vaccine or vaccine platform is likely to meet the global need, highlighting the need for a coordinated strategic approach to vaccine development.
The authors stress that researchers need to learn more about what constitutes a durable protective immune response against COVID-19. They review considerations for vaccine efficacy trials, explaining how trials for several candidate vaccines can be conducted in parallel to generate essential safety and efficacy data and accelerate the licensure and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. The authors propose specific approaches to harmonizing the clinical testing of multiple vaccine products, including using common clinical trials designs, clinical endpoints, standardized immune assays and a common Data Safety and Monitoring Board.
The authors emphasize that developing COVID-19 vaccines will require unprecedented cooperation from governments, academic institutions, industry, and global philanthropic partners. The ACTIV (Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines) public-private partnership spearheaded by NIH aims to facilitate such collaboration with discussions and collaborations on trial designs and data sharing.
Protecting the entire global community from COVID-19 through vaccination will require significant manufacturing capacity, according to the authors. They emphasize the need to fund the necessary biomanufacturing infrastructure and note possible hurdles in the eventual delivery of vaccines, including cost, distribution systems and cold chain requirements. The authors conclude that strategic collaboration among public and private sectors to effectively accelerate COVID-19 vaccine development is essential.
The Latest Updates from Bing News & Google News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Covid-19 vaccine
- CPS looks to require COVID-19 vaccines for employees without medical or religious waivers, but teachers union wants input on shot policyon February 24, 2021 at 5:58 pm
Chicago Public Schools plans to require its teachers and other workers to show proof that they’ve received COVID-19 vaccinations as a condition of employment. But the Chicago Teachers Union said it ...
- Single-dose vaccine effective against COVID-19 variants, data showson February 24, 2021 at 5:45 pm
The Food and Drug Administration announced that Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine meets the requirements of the emergency use authorization review process. Authorization could come on Friday.
- Neighbor gives up COVID-19 vaccine appointment to stranger in needon February 24, 2021 at 4:47 pm
"I couldn’t believe that someone would be giving such a coveted thing." Neighbor gives up vaccine for fellow neighbor in need As many struggle to get a vaccine appointment, two neighbors who met ...
- Helping People Find Covid-19 Vaccines Is Aim of C.D.C.-Backed Siteon February 24, 2021 at 4:42 pm
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hoping to make it easier for Americans to find Covid-19 vaccines, is backing the test of a centralized online portal where the public can search for ...
- Illinois begins offering COVID-19 vaccine to people with health conditions Thursday, but most Chicago-area counties will not. Here’s why.on February 24, 2021 at 4:13 pm
Illinois is expanding COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to people under age 65 with health conditions Thursday, but it likely will be difficult for Chicago-area residents to find shots in coming days.
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Covid-19 vaccine
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Covid-19
- Australia COVID-19 cases trend lower, Qantas pushes back international flightson February 24, 2021 at 6:01 pm
Australia on Thursday continued its downward trend of COVID-19 cases, stoking hopes of a faster return to normal, while Qantas Airways pushed back international travel plans by four months as it waits ...
- Trisha Yearwood tests positive for COVID-19, Garth Brooks quarantining with heron February 24, 2021 at 5:58 pm
Anyone who knows me knows my world begins and ends with Miss Yearwood, so she and I will ride through this together,” he said.
- Cluster of U.K. variant coronavirus cases hits on USC campuson February 24, 2021 at 5:50 pm
Officials are investigating a cluster of four coronavirus cases at USC, two of which are confirmed to be the B.1.1.7 variant.
- New coronavirus variant identified in New York: researcherson February 24, 2021 at 5:18 pm
A new coronavirus variant that shares some similarities with a more transmissible and intractable variant discovered in South Africa is on the rise in New York City, researchers said on Wednesday. ...
- Illinois begins offering COVID-19 vaccine to people with health conditions Thursday, but most Chicago-area counties will not. Here’s why.on February 24, 2021 at 4:13 pm
Illinois is expanding COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to people under age 65 with health conditions Thursday, but it likely will be difficult for Chicago-area residents to find shots in coming days.