How close are we to a COVID-19 vaccine?

We know that experts are on the verge of knowing whether there can be a vaccine that works against the coronavirus. Scientists had to start from scratch earlier this year, but now the results of major trails are expected in the coming weeks or months.

At this point for life to get back to normal, a COVID-19 vaccine must be delivered success-fully, even though there is no evidence yet that people could be re-infected by the virus.

Data from trials have shown that vaccines can teach the body to make antibodies, which in turn can prevent COVID-19 from entering the body’s cells and T-cells.

However, it remains unanswered whether the vaccine is still enough to protect people from COVID-19. Currently, there are 11 vaccines which have reached the final stage of testing. This stage is critical because if the vaccine were to fail, it would be at this stage. Some studies have already recruited volunteers and are currently awaiting results.

The leading companies carrying out the research are the University of Oxford and Astra-Zeneca (UK), Pfizer and BioNTech (Germany), Moderna and Novavax (United States), CanSino with the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, Beijing Institute of Biological Products, Sinopharm, Wuhan Institute of Biological Products and Sinopharm (China), Gamaleya Re-search Institute in Russia, and Sinovac and Instituto Butantan in Brazil.

The reality is that until these companies release the results of their clinical trials, which is expected to be by the end of 2020, it is realistically impossible to give a time frame. Plans could change exponentially if the experimental vaccines were unsuitable or ineffective. Most experts think the vaccine won't be widely available until the middle of 2021.

The Maltese health authorities have said that public should expect Malta to receive the COVID-19 in January 2021, with Health Minister Chris Fearne saying that within the following months the vaccine will be released to the entire population.

“At the beginning, we were worried that once this important vaccine will be provided to the bigger EU countries and the smaller EU countries, such as Malta will be one of the last to be given the vaccine. Instead, we have worked hard to ensure that Malta will be one of the first countries to receive the vaccine.”

Malta has ordered enough doses of the COVID-19 vaccines to vaccinate the entire population within six months. Malta has so far been assured of a stock of vaccines from Astra-Zeneca, Sanofi and Johnson & Johnson.

While the only way to safely lift restrictions without risking the lives of many is to produce a vaccine, it is important to note that we still don’t have a vaccine for the four coronaviruses that already exist which cause common cold symptoms.

And last week a volunteer in AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine trial – notably one of the vaccines which Malta has acquired the stock of – died in Brazil. CNN Brazil reported that the volunteer was a 28-year-old man who lived in Rio de Janeiro and died from COVID-19 complications.

Despite a statement by AstraZeneca that the trial would continue, warnings have been raised from the medical community since the death. Remember: a vaccine usually takes decades to develop, yet the medical community is attempting to develop this vaccine in a short amount of time – this would be historical.

Right now, trials need to show the vaccine is safe. Clinical trials will also need to show vaccines either stop people getting sick or at the very least reduce deaths. The vaccine will also need to be approved by regulators before it can be taken by the general public.

Lastly, governments around the world need to logistically decide whether the vaccine will be mandatory or optional.