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FRIDAY, Oct. 30, 2020 (HealthDay News)<\/p>\n
Forty-five potential vaccines<\/a> for COVID-19<\/a> are being tested in human trials and many more are being tested in animals.<\/p>\n Researchers are using several approaches to trigger an immune response against SARS<\/a>-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19<\/a>. The most common types of vaccines<\/a> contain a virus that has been engineered with coronavirus genes to provoke an immune response, according to Dr. Edward Jones-Lopez, an infectious disease expert at Keck Medicine of University of Southern California.<\/p>\n Here’s what you need to know, Jones-Lopez said in a Keck news release.<\/p>\n After lab and animal testing, vaccines<\/a> enter a phase 1 clinical trial, where a small group of people (10-50) gets the vaccine<\/a> to see the right dose, side effects and safety. Phase 2 expands it to hundreds of people to test a vaccine<\/a> for safety and effectiveness.<\/p>\n Phase 3 trials expand to tens of thousands of people to see if the vaccine protects against the infection or severe disease, and to continue to assess safety in a larger population. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves a vaccine only after a successful phase 3 trial.<\/p>\n In a phase 3 trial, people are randomly selected to receive the vaccine or a placebo. Researchers then compare how many in each group become infected.<\/p>\n The FDA says that a vaccine must be at least 50% effective in preventing COVID-19<\/a> or protecting against serious illness if someone does get infected.<\/p>\n One or more vaccines<\/a> may become available three to six months after completion of a trial. That could be as soon as early next year.<\/p>\n Jones-Lopez said people may need to be vaccinated each year, just as for the flu<\/a>, but we don’t know yet.<\/p>\n How is the vaccine being developed so quickly? “We are benefiting from previous work done over the last decades to find safe, effective vaccines<\/a> faster,” Jones-Lopez said. Despite the speed of development, scientists are adhering to same safety standards followed for other approved vaccines<\/a>, he said.<\/p>\n More information<\/strong><\/p>\n The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a> has more on the new coronavirus<\/a>.<\/p>\n SOURCE: Keck Medicine of University of Southern California, news release, Oct. 22, 2020<\/p>\n Steven Reinberg<\/p>\n ![\"MedicalNews\"](\"https:\/\/images.medicinenet.com\/images\/HealthDay\/healthday.png\")
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