"Ef ég bíð og vona.."

Coronavirus is spreading around the world, but there are still no vaccines to protect the body against the disease it causes, Covid-19.

Medical researchers are working hard to change that.

Why is a coronavirus vaccine important?

The virus spreads easily and the majority of the world's population is still vulnerable to it. A vaccine would provide some protection by training people's immune systems to fight the virus so they should not become sick.

This would allow lockdowns to be lifted more safely, and social distancing to be relaxed.

What sort of progress is being made?

Research is happening at breakneck speed. About 200 groups around the world are working on vaccines and 18 are now being tested on people in clinical trials.

• The first human trial data appears positive showing the first eight patients all produced antibodies that could neutralise the virus.
• A group in China showed a vaccine was safe and led to protective antibodies being made. It is being made available to the Chinese military.
• In Oxford, the first human trial in Europe has started with more than 800 recruits and has signed a deal with AstraZeneca to supply 100 million doses (30 million for the UK) if it works.
• And completely new approaches to vaccine development are in human trials.

However, no-one knows how effective any of these vaccines will be.

When will we have a coronavirus vaccine?

A vaccine would normally take years, if not decades, to develop. Researchers hope to achieve the same amount of work in only a few months.

Most experts think a vaccine is likely to become widely available by mid-2021, about 12-18 months after the new virus, known officially as Sars-CoV-2, first emerged.

That would be a huge scientific feat and there are no guarantees it will work.

Four coronaviruses already circulate in human beings. They cause common cold symptoms and we don't have vaccines for any of them."

Hver verður fyrstur ? Heimurinn er glataður til langframa ef ekki verður tekinn einhver sjans.

"Ef ég bíð og vona...?"

Athugasemdir

[Símon Pétur frá Hákoti (IP-tala skráð) 13.7.2020 kl. 13:34]

Góðar fréttir berast frá Danmörku.  Statens Serum Institut er langt komið í tilraunum með bóluefni sem nefnt er Covidix.  Búast jafnvel við því í lok þessa árs.  Um þetta má lesa á dr.dk

Höldum í vonina Halldór.