The World Health Organization said recently that it may be 18 months before a vaccine against the coronavirus is publicly available. Let’s explore why, even with global efforts, it might take this long.
By late January, the virus was successfully grown outside China for the first time by Melbourne’s Doherty Institute, a critically important step. For the first time, researchers in other countries had access to a live sample of the virus.
Using this sample, researchers at CSIRO’s high-containment facility, the Australian Animal Health Laboratory, in Geelong, could begin to understand the characteristics of the virus, another crucial step in the global effort towards developing a vaccine.
Vaccines have historically taken two to five years to develop. But with a global effort, and learning from past efforts to develop coronavirus vaccines, researchers could potentially develop a vaccine in a much shorter time.
Here’s why we need to work together.
No single institution has the capacity or facilities to develop a vaccine by itself. There are also more stages to the process than many people appreciate. First, we must understand the virus’s characteristics and behaviour in the host humans. To do this, we must first develop an animal model.
Next, we must demonstrate that potential vaccines are safe and can trigger the right parts of the body’s immunity, without causing damage. Then we can begin pre-clinical animal testing of potential vaccines, using the animal model.
Vaccines that successfully pass pre-clinical testing can then be used by other institutions with the capacity to run human trials. Where these will be conducted, and by whom, has yet to be decided. Generally, it is ideal to test such vaccines in the setting of the current outbreak.
Finally, if a vaccine is found to be safe and effective, it will need to pass the necessary regulatory approvals. And a cost-effective way of making the vaccine will also need to be in place before the final vaccine is ready for delivery.
Each of these steps in the vaccine development pipeline faces potential challenges.
Key challenges
The international Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations has engaged our team in those first two steps: determining the characteristics of the current virus, then pre-clinical testing of potential vaccines.
While Melbourne’s Doherty Institute and others have been instrumental in isolating the novel coronavirus, the next step for us is growing large amounts of it, so our scientists have enough to work with. This involves culturing the virus in the lab – i.e. encouraging it to grow – under especially secure and sterile conditions.
The next challenge we face is developing and validating the right biological model for the virus. This will be an animal model that gives us clues to how the coronavirus might behave in humans. Our previous work with the severe acute respiratory syndrome, better known as SARS, has given us a good foundation to build on.
SARS is another member of the coronavirus family that spread during 2002-’03. Our scientists developed a biological model for SARS, using ferrets, in work to identify the original host of the virus: bats.
SARS and the new SARS-CoV-2 share about 80-90% of their genetic code. So our experience with SARS means we are optimistic our existing ferret model can be used as a starting point for work on the novel coronavirus.
We will also explore other biological models to provide more robust data and as a contingency.
Other challenges
There’s also the strong possibility that SARS-CoV-2 will continue to mutate. Being an animal virus, it has already likely mutated as it adapted – first to another animal, and then jumping from an animal to humans.
Initially this was without transmission among people, but now it has taken the significant step of sustained human-to-human transmission. As the virus continues to infect people, it is going through something of a stabilisation, which is part of the mutation process.
This mutation process may even vary in different parts of the world, for various reasons.
This includes population density, which influences the number of people infected and how many opportunities the virus has to mutate. Prior exposure to other coronaviruses may also influence the population’s susceptibility to infection, which may result in variant strains emerging, much like seasonal influenza.
Therefore, it’s crucial we continue to work with one of the latest versions of the virus to give a vaccine the greatest chance of being effective. All this work needs to be done under stringent quality and safety conditions, to ensure it meets global legislative requirements, and to ensure staff and the wider community are safe.
Another challenge is manufacturing proteins from the virus needed to develop potential vaccines. These proteins are specially designed to elicit an immune response when administered, allowing a person’s immune system to protect against future infection.
Fortunately, recent advances in understanding viral proteins, their structure and functions, has allowed this work to progress around the world at considerable speed.
Developing a vaccine is a huge task and not something that can happen overnight. But if things go to plan, it will be much faster than we’ve seen before. So many lessons were learned during the SARS outbreak. And the knowledge the global scientific community gained from trying to develop a vaccine against SARS has given us a head-start on developing one for this virus.
Rob Grenfell, Director of Health and Biosecurity, CSIRO. Trevor Drew, Director of the Australian Animal Health Laboratory, CSIRO.
Shopping season for Medicare coverage is about to begin. With it comes the annual onslaught of TV ads and choices to consider.
People eligible for the federal government’s Medicare program will have from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7 to sign up for 2025 Medicare Advantage plans, which are privately run versions of the program. They also can add a prescription drug plan to traditional Medicare coverage.
Many people on Medicare Advantage plans will probably have to find new coverage as major insurers cut costs and pull back from markets. Industry experts also predict some price increases for Medicare prescription drug plans.
Shoppers often have dozens of options during this sign-up period. Here are some things to consider.
Don’t put off shopping for Medicare coverage
Start thinking about next year’s coverage before the annual enrollment window begins. Insurers will usually preview their offerings or let customers know about any big changes. That makes anything arriving in the mail from your insurer important to read.
Insurance agents say many people wait until after Thanksgiving to decide coverage plans for the new year. That could be a mistake this year: The holiday falls on Nov. 28, leaving slightly more than a week to decide before the enrollment window closes.
Look beyond the premium
Many Medicare Advantage plans promote a $0 premium. That may sound attractive, but price is only one variable to consider.
Shoppers should look at whether their doctors are in the plan’s coverage network and how prescriptions would be covered. They also should know the maximum amount under the plan that they’d have to pay if a serious health issue emerges.
Plans offer many supplemental benefits, including help paying food or utility bills. Don’t let those distract from understanding the core coverage, said Danielle Roberts, co-founder of the Fort Worth, Texas, insurance agency Boomer Benefits.
“Remember that we buy health insurance for the big things, not the frills,” she said.
How to get help shopping for plans
The federal government operates a plan finder that lets people compare options. The State Health Insurance Assistance Program can be another resource. Insurance brokers or agents also guide customers through searches.
Sometimes a plan’s coverage doesn’t work as expected. If that happens, there’s another enrollment window in the first three-months of each year where some shoppers may be able to make a change.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans can once again order COVID-19 tests, without being charged, sent straight to their homes.
The U.S. government reopened the program on Thursday, allowing any household to order up to four at-home COVID nasal swab kits through the website, covidtests.gov. The tests will begin shipping, via the United States Postal Service, as soon as next week.
The website has been reopened on the heels of a summer COVID-19 virus wave and heading into the fall and winter respiratory virus season, with health officials urging Americans to get an updated COVID-19 booster and their yearly flu shot.
“Before you visit with your family and friends this holiday season, take a quick test and help keep them safe from COVID-19,” U.S. Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell said in a statement.
U.S. regulators approved an updated COVID-19 vaccine that is designed to combat the recent virus strains and, they hope, forthcoming winter ones, too. Vaccine uptake is waning, however. Most Americans have some immunity from prior infections or vaccinations, but under a quarter of U.S. adults took last fall’s COVID-19 shot.
Using the swab, people can detect current virus strains ahead of the fall and winter respiratory virus season and the holidays. Over-the-counter COVID-19 at-home tests typically cost around $11, as of last year. Insurers are no longer required to cover the cost of the tests.
Before using any existing at-home COVID-19 tests, you should check the expiration date. Many of the tests have been given an extended expiration from the date listed on the box. You can check on the Food and Drug Administration’s website to see if that’s the case for any of your remaining tests at home.
Since COVID-19 first began its spread in 2020, U.S. taxpayers have poured billions of dollars into developing and purchasing COVID-19 tests as well as vaccines. The Biden administration has given out 1.8 billion COVID-19 tests, including half distributed to households by mail. It’s unclear how many tests the government still has on hand.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans can once again order free COVID-19 tests sent straight to their homes.
The U.S. government reopened the program on Thursday, allowing any household to order up to four at-home COVID nasal swab kits through the website, covidtests.gov. The tests will begin shipping, via the United States Postal Service, as soon as next week.
The website has been reopened on the heels of a summer COVID-19 virus wave and heading into the fall and winter respiratory virus season, with health officials urging Americans to get an updated COVID-19 booster and their yearly flu shot.
U.S. regulators approved an updated COVID-19 vaccine that is designed to combat the recent virus strains and, they hope, forthcoming winter ones, too. Vaccine uptake is waning, however. Most Americans have some immunity from prior infections or vaccinations, but under a quarter of U.S. adults took last fall’s COVID-19 shot.
Using the swab, people can detect current virus strains ahead of the fall and winter respiratory virus season and the holidays. Over-the-counter COVID-19 at-home tests typically cost around $11, as of last year. Insurers are no longer required to cover the cost of the tests.
Since COVID-19 first began its spread in 2020, U.S. taxpayers have poured billions of dollars into developing and purchasing COVID-19 tests as well as vaccines. The Biden administration has given out 1.8 billion COVID-19 tests, including half distributed to households by mail. It’s unclear how many tests the government still has on hand.
