Coronavirus vaccines are moving much faster, partly because governments are taking on the financial risk of developing a vaccine that may not work. Through Operation Warp Speed, the U.S. government has invested about $9.5 billion to speed up development and jump-start manufacturing before research is finished.
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These are the top
coronavirus
vaccines to watch
We are tracking 200 experimental
vaccines aimed at ending the
pandemic, a scientific quest
moving at record-breaking speed.
By Aaron Steckelberg, Carolyn Y. Johnson, Gabriel Florit and Chris Alcantara
Updated Aug. 13 at 12:53 p.m.
Pre-clinical
170+ vaccines
are being tested in animals and lab experiments
Phase 1
15 vaccines
are being tested in a small number of healthy, young people to assess safety and correct dose
Phase 2
3 vaccines
are broadened to a larger group of people, including people at higher risk of illness
Phase 3
7 vaccines
are being tested in thousands of people to check their effectiveness and safety
Approved
0 vaccines
have been determined to provide benefits that outweigh known and potential risks
⚑ Recent developments
Aug. 14 | U.S. will prepare coronavirus strain for potential human challenge vaccine trials
Aug. 11 | Moderna reaches $1.5 billion agreement to supply U.S. with 100 million vaccine doses
Aug. 11 | Russia unveils coronavirus vaccine “Sputnik V,” claiming a breakthrough in the global race before final testing is complete
The worldwide effort to create a vaccine for the novel coronavirus kicked off in January, soon after scientists in China posted online the genome of a virus causing a mysterious pneumonia. Vaccine development usually takes years and unfolds step by step. Experimental vaccine candidates are created in the laboratory and tested in animals before moving into progressively larger human clinical trials.
These steps are now overlapping in the race to find a vaccine for a global disease that has killed hundreds of thousands of people. Human testing began in some cases before animal studies were finished. As companies launch small Phase 1 trials intended to establish the correct dose, they already are planning the Phase 3 trials that evaluate whether the vaccines are effective and safe.
[A vaccine, or a spike in deaths: How America can build herd immunity to the coronavirus]
No steps are being skipped, top government officials have repeatedly promised, and vaccines will not be considered for approval in the United States until after a large, Phase 3 trial. The Food and Drug Administration, which has the ultimate say on whether a vaccine has been proved safe and effective, says a vaccine for covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, will need to prevent disease or decrease symptoms in at least 50 percent of those who receive it. The effectiveness of the flu vaccine ranges from 40 to 60 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Other countries may use different standards or authorize vaccines without waiting for proof they are safe and effective. Russia announced it would begin using its vaccine in people at high risk for the virus in August, before starting its Phase 3 trial. China has authorized a vaccine for use in members of the military.
Unprecedented speed
Researchers in the United States set an audacious goal in January to develop a coronavirus vaccine within 12 to 18 months. This would be a world record. The mumps vaccine is considered to be the fastest to move, in four years, from scientific concept to approval in 1967. The quest for an HIV vaccine continues, 36 years and counting.