Hope for the Covid-19 pandemic is now on the shoulders of researchers around the world. The first clinical trials are, moreover, on the point of being completed. Among the eight laboratories that have reached the stage of clinical trials on humans, the English University of Oxford is very prominent. If their tests prove successful, the first doses may be available by September.
>> LIVE - Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation Sunday May 3
If the English are so advanced, it is because they have launched a first clinical trial on more than 1,000 people. "They are rushing to be the first but it is far too risky," criticizes a French researcher. In this first phase, the toxicity of the vaccine is analyzed. In other words, if the English are wrong on the formula, the consequences could be dramatic.
A vaccine expected at the earliest at the end of 2020
More cautious, France has chosen a small panel of a hundred people. Researchers modified the measles vaccine to get the coronavirus vaccine. The first tests will start next July. "Usually, for the other vaccine candidates that we did, for example for chikungunya, it took five years to get there. So [for Covid-19], doing it in six months is exceptional ", rejoices Frédéric Tangy, director of the vaccine innovation laboratory at the Pasteur Institute.
CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIALS
> Partial unemployment: the parents' situation clarified
> A new inflammatory disease affecting children linked to the coronavirus?
> What will shopping be like after May 11?
> The French will have to go on vacation near their home
> Why going to the hairdresser will cost more after confinement
To speed up the manufacturing process of this vaccine, several tens of thousands of doses will be produced in parallel to the first clinical trials starting in July. If all of these steps are validated, the Covid-19 vaccine may be available by the end of the year or early 2021.
>> READ ALSO - Will a vaccine against the coronavirus be available from September?