It starts to be manufactured late this year
The only Arab researcher involved in its production: the "Covid-19" vaccine is ready
Professor Adrian Hill and Dr. Ahmed Salem are the President of the Edward Jenner Institute. ■ from the source
The only Arab researcher, participating in the prestigious Oxford University team in the production of vaccines, Dr. Ahmed Mahmoud Salman, confirmed The team is very close to announcing a vaccine for the emerging corona virus (Covid-19), and is expected to reveal it at the end of September or early October of this year, and to begin manufacturing it at the end of this year or early 2021.
Dr. Salman said; Professor of Immunology and Vaccine Development at the Edward Jenner Institute, and a Fellow of Kellogg College at the University of Oxford in England, told Future Monitor that the Oxford team for conducting research to find a vaccine for "Covid-19" was formed in late December 2019 or early January 2020, and that the team It includes between 300 and 400 researchers and scientists specializing in immunology and vaccine development, from different research groups specializing in infectious diseases such as: malaria, tuberculosis, hepatitis, and others.
He pointed out that this "giant research team" is now led by many professors, headed by Professor Sarah Gilbert, a specialist in emerging and respiratory diseases, and Professor Dr. Adrian Hill, President of the Edward Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford.
Announcement date
Salman said: “There are many circumstances that could delay the announcement, but what has been announced is the best expectation, and we hope, God willing, that the clinical trials of the third phase will end and be announced in late September or early October 2020,” adding: “If the results are good, As desired, the protection rate for the vaccine will exceed 50%, and we expect it to exceed 70 to 80%, according to the preliminary data and results obtained so far, but we must wait until the completion of the experiments completely until it is confirmed. If we assume the best scenario, that is, the beginning of October 2020, and adopt and start the manufacturing cycle, it can take three or four months to produce nearly a billion doses, and they will be ready by the end of 2020 or early 2021, and this is the best expectation. He added, "But we cannot guarantee or confirm a date for announcing the results, except after the success of the tests, when the experiment is over, and it is announced and proven successful."
Frenzied racing
The world has entered a real race to blockade the emerging corona virus, and there are reports from all parts of the world about many vaccine experiences in the field of confrontation, but some of them seemed more advanced than others, and there are currently about 165 research groups working on researching vaccines for the emerging corona virus, including 18 There are 12 vaccines in the first clinical trial phase, 140 are still in laboratory trials, there are 12 in the second phase of clinical trials, and only six vaccines are in the last third phase, including the Oxford University vaccine, leading this global race in clinical trials and the closest to accreditation. There is one vaccine that has been temporarily approved for use locally only within the Chinese military, if it is urgently required, although they have not entered clinical phase III trials yet.
But will the vaccine be taken only once, or will it be seasonal?
Salman said, “Those who received the vaccine in the clinical trials, which began in April 2020, still have antibodies to now, and in order to know how effective the vaccine will be, we must wait, and perform an analysis every period to see how long it can last, and this is important because The virus apparently will not end, and it will remain with us. ”
Salman expected that there will be great difficulty for a vaccine for “Covid-19” to reach some Arab countries by the end of this year, explaining that “this is very difficult and a very big challenge, because the vaccine production cycle takes from four to six months, and there are contracts that have already occurred on a number of The production cycles that end at the end of this year, and the units that manufacture vaccines are restricted to production capacity and storage capacity.
The only solution, which Salman believes, for the vaccine to reach the Arab countries faster, is to "contract with Oxford and the British company AstraZeneca for the production of medicines on production, not on purchase, because waiting for the purchase of the vaccine may require waiting for a period that may extend to a year and a half."
Why did the Oxford team stand out
Dr. Ahmed said that the distinction of the Oxford team is based on three reasons: “The first is that experiments on monkeys gave a success rate of 100% and prevented any symptoms of pneumonia in monkeys. The second reason is that the team previously worked on a vaccine for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and clinical trials reached that 79% of the volunteers, who were vaccinated, produced antibodies capable of neutralizing and destroying the virus. The third reason is that the vaccine works on the part of the thorns characteristic of the shape of the virus, and this part is what gives it the ability to bind to human cell receptors and cause infection, and then it is in the interest of the virus not to alter and change this protein, which allows it to bind to human cells in a very specialized way. .
He added that the contracts concluded regarding the Oxford vaccine clearly reveal "the world's confidence in the vaccine, which will be confirmed in October 2020, with the announcement of the results of the final third phase of clinical trials."
Saleman:
“We cannot confirm a date for announcing the results, until after the trial is over
And prove its success ».