COVID-19 Vaccine Research in the World

Most of the vaccine studies are carried out by industry and a small amount of them by academic institutions.

A great number of studies for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention have been conducted and published during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic process that has been going on for about 10 months. And various countries are still carrying out different studies to find a vaccine with the most significant effect on prevention.

There are 180 COVID-19 vaccine candidates in total as of September 9, 2020, 35 of which are in the clinical phase, and 145 of which are in the pre-clinical stage. Nine of the vaccines in the clinical phase are in the third phase, and our institutions will also participate in the phase 3 trials of two of these vaccines. Our country also has 14 ongoing vaccine studies in the pre-clinical stage.

Most of the vaccine studies are carried out by industry and a small amount of them by academic institutions. The most vaccine candidates are in North America (the USA and other countries), Asia and Australia (China, Russia, and other countries), and European countries (Germany, England, and others), respectively. One of the vaccines was put into use by Russia.

Vaccine Safety Support from the World Health Organization

The World Health Organization supports a global initiative (COVAX) that is aimed at working with vaccine manufacturers to provide countries with equitable access to safe and effective vaccines.

As the course and immunopathogenesis of COVID-19 are better understood, it is seen that the disease provides not only humoral but also cellular immunity; however, the immunity acquired does not last long. Within this scope, the duration of immunity provided by vaccines, and how much it will be affected by mutations in the future cannot be foreseen.