The number of Covid-19 cases in Israel has spiked in recent times as the nation has registered 78,500 cases of the deadly virus and 569 deaths.
With over 18.9 million cases across the globe, vaccine trials are being fast-tracked across all countries. Johnson & Johnson will supply 100 million doses of its experimental Covid-19 vaccine to the US. The UK has agreed to invest $18 million in a Scottish vaccine-manufacturing plant, while Moderna Inc. said it has received $400 million of deposits for its potential Covid-19 shot.
Israel on Thursday claimed that it already has in hand an “excellent” vaccine against the Coronavirus pandemic, but it has to go through regulatory processes which are set to begin with human trials following the autumn holidays.
Israel’s Defence Minister Benny Gantz visited the Israel Institute of Biological Research (IIBR) where he met with its director Prof Shmuel Shapira to receive an update on the progress of the work to develop a Covid-19 vaccine.
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“There is an excellent vaccine, there are regulatory processes that the vaccine needs to go through based on the timetable that you (Alternate PM and Defence Minister Benny Gantz) mentioned. We will start safety and efficacy trials after the autumn holidays, but the product is in hand,” Prof Shapira, Director of IIBR, which works under the joint supervision of the Ministry of Defence and the PMO, was quoted in a press statement.
The virus outbreak has created a major stir around the world infecting more than 18.9 million people globally and claiming the lives of over 707,000 people worldwide.
The virus that originated from the Chinese city of Wuhan located in the Hubei province is currently spreading like wildfire. More than 100 vaccine candidates are currently under different stages of trials as scientists are working at war-like speed to find a cure for the disease. An effective vaccine is expected to come by this year-end or by the first quarter of 2021, according to experts.
It might not be evident in the context of the current pandemic, when so many companies and research laboratories are rushing to produce a vaccine, but vaccine development is an incredibly complex, time-consuming, resource-intensive process. Besides, it is also a very high-risk process. The chances of success are extremely low.
In the current context, the 165 candidates listed in the WHO survey have all reached at least the pre-clinical trial phase and, at least 23 of them are in human trials. Not all of these will be successful. Going by past record, only about one-fourth of the candidates in pre-clinical trials would be adjudged worthy of getting into human trials. The others would be weeded out.
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