A vaccination study from China concluded that a dead vaccine in an animal model is an effective protection against the coronavirus.
Such a vaccine could be produced worldwide relatively easily in “rough quantities“, as virologist Christian Drosten explains in the latest edition of the NDR podcast “Coronavirus Update”. Even if dead vaccines are risky, the virologist speaks of a worthwhile consideration.
Article by C.Stüve from gmx.de
Lockdowns and loosening, tracing apps, distance and hygiene rules – all these are just tools that can help us get through the corona crisis as well as possible. An effective medication could also help to significantly relax the current situation.
However, the global crisis can only really be ended by a vaccine. Only when this is available will we all be able to return to our accustomed lives.
Hopes are accordingly high that a vaccine will be found by scientists as soon as possible. It is currently assumed that it could be available in about a year.
Hope is now being raised by a new study from China, which was discussed by virologist Christian Drosten on Friday in the current issue of the NDR podcast “Coronavirus Update”. Eight monkeys were treated with a vaccine in Beijing and then infected with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. A first manuscript of the experiments is now available.
Inactivated vaccines are the simplest vaccines
“This has attracted a lot of attention,” said Drosten: “It’s about a dead vaccine. That’s the easiest thing to do when you’re making a vaccine. You grow the virus in cell culture and then kill it, in this case with a chemical. You add an adjuvant to it and make a vaccine compound that has an uncertain effect.”
In Europe and the USA, the approach with a not very modern inactivated vaccine was initially not considered, as its use is considered risky. For example, a vaccination could also lead to an increase in the disease rather than providing protection, Drosten explained. Especially when used against coronaviruses.
On the other hand, such a vaccine could be available much faster than many other modern vaccine concepts. “And if it works, then you know from experience with other dead vaccines that it actually works well. So, at least for the early phase, one could consider such a vaccine as the first vaccine option,” said Drosten.
Dead vaccine could be produced quickly
Especially since such a dead vaccine could be produced in “large quantities, in many countries of the world at the same time“, as Drosten explained.
Less developed countries would also be able to do so, and even production lines for veterinary vaccines could help to produce the millions of doses of vaccine needed to vaccinate the world’s population.
This would save time in production, which is why inactivated vaccine would be a faster option. And, at least in animal models, an effective one. Four rhesus monkeys were vaccinated three times in Beijing, one week apart, and four other monkeys served as a control group. Some monkeys received a smaller dose of the active substance, others received a larger dose. Finally, all animals were exposed to a large amount of the novel pathogen.
According to the study, the monkeys produced antibodies very well after vaccination and their lungs were also protected from infection. “What was seen was a clear protection even against this very high exposure dose of virus, i.e. much more than a human patient would get in a natural infection,” explained Drosten.
“A worthwhile consideration.”
The inactivated vaccine could therefore effectively protect the monkeys from COVID-19, and it would also be relatively easy to produce and therefore probably available more quickly. Nevertheless, there is still a long way to go before the vaccine is actually ready for use.
Drosten did not comment on a timetable. The results of the Chinese studies should first be discussed in science and society, said the director of the Institute of Virology at the Charité hospital in Berlin. “It’s a worthwhile consideration if you don’t want to go down this road,” he explained.
For there is something else about the manuscript from Beijing that gives hope. Studies on the effectiveness of the vaccine in humans have already begun there.
Professor Dr. Christian Drosten is head of the Institute of Virology at the Charité hospital in Berlin and one of the leading virus researchers in Germany. The 48-year-old is regarded as a co-discoverer of the SARS virus. Immediately after the outbreak of the SARS pandemic in 2003, he developed a test for the newly discovered virus, for which he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit in 2005. In the current corona crisis, the native of Emsland is a much sought-after discussion partner, providing information on the current situation every day.
Article: Source (german): https://www.gmx.net/magazine/news/coronavirus/coronavirus-drosten-impfstudie-china-hoffnung-34645918, From Christian Stüwe, Last updated 24 April 2020, 17:42
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
English 
Italian