More than One Effective Vaccine Required to Protect Global Community from SARS-CoV-2, Says NHI

Experts from the National Institutes of Health {(NIH) Bethesda, MD, USA} have suggested more than one effective vaccine approach will be required to protect the global community from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

A harmonized and collaborative approach to the clinical testing, scale-up and distribution of candidate vaccines to prevent COVID-19 is essential, according to the scientific leaders who have described a strategic approach to research and development that would generate essential data for multiple vaccine candidates in parallel. The experts have emphasized 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.


In a perspective published in Science, the authors stress that researchers need to learn more about what constitutes a durable protective immune response against COVID-19. In addition to reviewing considerations for vaccine efficacy trials, the authors have explained 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 scientific leaders have proposed 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 have emphasized 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 who have emphasized the need to fund the necessary biomanufacturing infrastructure and noted possible hurdles in the eventual delivery of vaccines, including cost, distribution systems and cold chain requirements. The authors believe that strategic collaboration is essential among public and private sectors to effectively accelerate COVID-19 vaccine development.

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