COVID-19 vaccine , are there approved vaccines? latest update

Scientists around the world are working hard, in an unprecedented race, to test different types of Covid-19 vaccine that can help stop the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. The race is not just scientific, but also political and economic one. Some vaccines are approved , and now are available, others are not yet approved. Here is a monitoring of the latest news in the journey to develop an effective and safe vaccine. Are there any safe and effective vaccines? Pfizer , moderna and astrazeneca vaccines are among the safest and approved vaccines.

Stages of COVID-19 vaccine development

Experiments to develop any vaccine (including Covid-19 vaccine) , go through many stages and steps. Then authorities will approve them. These stages are essential to prove that vaccine is effective and at the same time safe. The beginning starts in laboratories and on animals. When the candidate vaccines reach the stage of clinical trials in humans, they go through the first phase experiments , its goal is primarily to test the safety of the vaccine, determine doses, determine any possible side effects. First phases used to be on a small number of people. Then phase two trials to confirm safety and validate efficacy in larger groups of healthy people. The third and final stage, which few vaccines can reach, is much larger scale, that includes thousands or tens of thousands of people, to confirm and evaluate the effectiveness of the vaccine and test whether if it is safe for human use.

Below is a summary of the vaccines currently being developed. Covid-19 vaccines took a very short time compared to other vaccines. Mumps vaccine was the fastest vaccine in 4 years.

Candidates of Covid-19 vaccine currently approved and availabe

Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine

It is an American-Germany vaccine that used a new technology , using mRNA. Then its safety is not known, as this technology never used before , . Now , it is approved and available for emergency use. The company planned to produce big amounts to cover the demand.
Effectiveness : It is said to be above 95%

Oxford University, AstraZeneca Plc

It is a British vaccine, is made from a harmless virus that has been altered to produce the surface spike protein from SARS-CoV-2. The technology used is old and know technology , tried in other vaccines.
LATEST NEWS: Approved by health authorities for emergency use. Now it is given to high risk groups, like medical staff and front-liners. The vaccine increased levels of both protective neutralizing antibodies, and also immune T-cells in the trials.
Effectiveness : It is said to be above 70%

MODERNA (USA):

It is an american vaccine that used a new technology that never been used before, using mRNA. This mRNA vaccine has been developed by Moderna company, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is part of the US National Institutes of Health. The vaccine was tested in phase 1 trials on volunteers at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle. Moderna has run phase 2 and 3 trials on participants of a wide range of ages. Now , it is approved and available for emergency use.
Effectiveness : It is said to be above 95%

SINOVAC (CHINA):

It is china one that uses an old known technology , which is an INACTIVATED VACCINE. So far, this inactivated vaccine has been tested on primates. It has protected rhesus macaques from contracting the virus in a test conducted three weeks after they were injected with the vaccine. Sinovac did phase 3 trials involving 9,000 volunteers in Brazil. China approved the vaccine , and some other countries are using it.

BEIJING INSTITUTE OF BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS (CHINA):

It is an INACTIVATED VACCINE. Like the Wuhan Institute, the Beijing institute is also part of China’s state-run Sinopharm Group, and is working on this vaccine with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

WUHAN INSTITUTE OF BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS (CHINA)

It is an INACTIVATED VACCINE. The Wuhan Institute launched phase 3 trials in July, 2020 in the United Arab Emirates, with 15,000 people scheduled to participate in total.

Click the link below , to find answers for
frequently asked questions regarding Covid-19 Tests
https://araphil.com/medical/2021/01/14/helal-covid-19-test-faqs/