In early 2020, Academician Gao Fu "patted his chest" and said that the vaccine would definitely be developed.
He then added: "It takes a long, long time to develop a vaccine, to study a vaccine, but from what we've known about SARS or this type of virus in the past, I can say with a pat on the back that this vaccine will be successful."

It's not hard to see how when scientists started developing a vaccine for SARS-COV-2 in early 2020, everyone was wary of making promises like "quick success."
The success of mumps vaccine development in the 1960s was the fastest recorded vaccine preparation, taking only four years from sampling to approval.
It is therefore highly optimistic that a COVID-19 vaccine will be developed by the summer of 2021.

In early December, however, researchers working on several vaccines announced excellent results in large-scale trials and demonstrated the feasibility of a COVID-19 vaccine.
On December 2nd a vaccine produced by Pfizer, a pharmaceutical giant, in partnership with Bio NTech, a German biotech firm, became the first fully tested vaccine that could be used in an emergency.

Natalie Dean, a biostatistician at the University of Florida, says the rate of advancement of COVID-19 vaccines "challenges every paradigm we can think of in vaccine development."
At the same time, Natalie Dean points out that if we can produce other vaccines at the same rate as COVID-19 vaccines on a competitive timeline, it's going to be amazing.
Diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and pneumonia kill millions of people every year, and new and deadly viruses are on the rise. If the speed of COVID-19 vaccine development is applied to the development of vaccines for these diseases, the impact will be immeasurable.

Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Harvard Medical School, says there is no doubt that the COVID-19 experience will change the future of vaccine science.
He said the current rate of development of COVID-19 vaccines showed that when there is a real global emergency, the vaccine can be developed at an unexpected rate, given adequate resources.
And new vaccine manufacturing methods, such as using mrnas, have been validated by the clinical response to COVID-19.
Researchers have also greatly accelerated the progress of the COVID-19 vaccine without compromising the safety of the people who are trying it.

Analysis of the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccine in the world can be attributed to the following reasons: 1. Previous studies on relevant viruses have laid a theoretical foundation; 2.

2. Faster ways to make vaccines;
3. The huge capital investment enables the company to carry out multiple tests at the same time;
4. Regulators acted faster than normal.
   Some of these factors could translate into lessons for other vaccines, particularly faster production platforms.

Still, there is no guarantee that this "quickness" will replicate perfectly with other viruses.
To achieve such rapid success again will require an equally large operational investment.
That is only possible with a similar sense of social and political urgency.
At the same time, the nature of the pathogen itself determines the feasibility of such "repeatability".
In short, the emergence of SARS-COV-2, a relatively slow mutation that happens to belong to a well-studied family of viruses, was fortunate for scientists.

For years, scientists around the world have focused on the coronaviruses that cause SARS (severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), including the development of new vaccines. This has laid a solid foundation for the development of COVID-19 vaccines, and has been surprisingly rewarding.
Vaccines made by Pfizer, BioNTech and Modena all use mrnas that encode spikes, which dock with human cell membranes and allow coronaviruses to invade cells.

Immunologist Akiko Iwasaki of the Yale School of Medicine comments that basic research on DNA vaccines has been going on for at least 25 years, and RNA vaccines have benefited from 10 to 15 years of robust research, including some cancer vaccines.
RNA technology was not mature enough five years ago, but is now basically on the road to perfection.
Researchers at the Us National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) concluded from their studies on MERS and SARS that mRNA vaccine antigen design of spike proteins requires sufficient adjustment of RNA sequence to stabilize the resulting spike proteins before docking with host cells.
The third vaccine, which is being tested in a phase III clinical trial in November and is being made by The University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, does not use mRNA, but uses the viral vector (or carrier) to hold the genetic material that encodes sarS-COV-2 spike protein.
It also benefited from years of research into the carrier -- the company chose a modified form of adenovirus isolated from chimpanzee feces.
Beate Kampmann, director of the Vaccine Centre at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said progress on these routine vaccines had also come from studies of SARS, MERS, Ebola and malaria, and that the method was still cheaper than using mRNA.

Vaccine researchers were mostly infected with SARS-COV-2 for various reasons, Iwasaki said.
Unlike HIV, herpes or even the flu, this virus does not mutate in large numbers and does not suppress the human immune system.
The herpes virus, by contrast, has more evasive effects-preventing antibodies from binding, which makes it difficult to find effective drugs to fight it;
The rapid mutation of the flu virus requires a different vaccine formulation for each flu season.

Funding: The slowest part of vaccine development is not finding candidate treatments, but testing them.
First, companies test the efficacy and safety of animals, then they test humans, and human testing involves three stages, including an increase in the number of people and a proportionate increase in costs, which usually takes several years.
The COVID-19 vaccine has gone through the same trials -- billions of vaccines are being poured into the process, requiring companies not only to run some tests simultaneously, but also to be able to take financial risks.

Rino Rappuoli, chief scientist at GlaxoSmithKline's vaccine division in Italy, says large sums of money provided to vaccine companies through public funders and private philanthropists can be used to conduct both pre-clinical and phase I, II and III trials or even vaccine manufacturing, rather than in sequence.
This means that companies can take the risk of starting large-scale testing and manufacturing of vaccine candidates that may not be able to solve COVID-19, which completely "upsets" the entire development process.

Without such funding, vaccine research would not have produced such rapid results.
For example, the Ebola virus that occurred from 2014 to 2016 was not funded on such a large scale, which caused a devastating impact on African communities, and it took a very long time to develop a vaccine for Ebola.
This time, the money has been cashed in because all countries -- rich and poor -- are facing this catastrophic COVID-19 outbreak.
Similar to ebola, future vaccine development, including for existing diseases like malaria, will not be as rapid.
But "there is no way to accelerate unless you invest money".

Peter Hotez, a virologist at Baylor College of Medicine, believes that big pharma may be motivated not just by a desire to stop the epidemic, but by the opportunity to gain government funding for its research and in-depth development.
It has to be acknowledged that previous infectious and deadly viruses contributed to the establishment of national and global infrastructures to facilitate faster vaccine development.
The ebola and Zika outbreaks, for example, provide a better global coordination mechanism for how to respond to infectious disease crises.

In particular, the Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI) was launched in 2017.
The goal is to build the technological infrastructure needed to rapidly develop vaccines against several viruses with known epidemic potential, including MERS, Ebola and Zika.
In the final phase of the trial, CEPI assisted in the development of a vaccine for COVID-19.
The experience of COVID-19 has also prompted regulators to rethink.
While strict vaccine approval criteria have not been relaxed, most of the first vaccine candidates have been approved under emergency use regulations.

Other vaccine development: The COVID-19 pandemic should see some permanent changes in vaccine development.
First, mRNA vaccines -- which have never been approved before -- will revolutionize vaccinology.
It is not hard to see that mRNA vaccines can be chemically synthesized in a few days, in contrast to the more complex biotechnology that produces proteins in cells.
RNA greatly simplifies the manufacturing process and can be used to make RNA for different diseases in the same way, reducing the investment required and increasing the company's production capacity.

Still, other vaccines are likely to be developed at a similar pace only at high levels of infection, so that large-scale trials can be carried out relatively quickly and with substantial funding.
Other viruses may be more difficult to deal with than SARS-COV-2.

According to the statistics, there are at least 24 virus families that can infect humans, and we know little about the related virus families.
Rather than waiting for resources to be devoted to the next virus to pop up, it would be better to spend money now to set up a system to monitor all these viruses.
In other words, no amount of money will help without a solid scientific platform to back it up.
The success of the COVID-19 vaccine is a good example of how science can do or even accomplish something very quickly, but it doesn't happen overnight.

The new crown pneumonia epidemic in Japan has resurfaced since October and accelerated in early November. So far, it has not been effectively curbed. The number of newly confirmed cases in the metropolitan area remains high, the medical system is facing a peak of pressure, and the public is depressed and confused. Some US and European pharmaceutical companies that have launched a new crown vaccine are urging the Japanese side to speed up the approval of the use of their vaccine, and the Japanese side still needs to improve many conditions to implement large-scale vaccination.

In all fairness, compared with the United Kingdom and the United States and other countries, the Japanese government and medical system are doing their best in fighting the epidemic, and the people are generally able to cooperate with the implementation of epidemic prevention measures. At present, social public activities are not restricted, and the public security situation is generally good. At the end of the year, when people have to go back to their hometowns and provinces, make friends, go out for sightseeing, or do business, the flow of people is not decreasing but increasing. This has also become a potential factor for the spread of the epidemic in Japan.

The Japanese government has no good measures to fight the epidemic, medical staff are on the verge of collapse, social emotions are restless, and the cabinet's approval rating plummets. At this time, some pharmaceutical giants in the United States and Britain delivered the new crown vaccine at the right time, expressing that they would offer a safe and reliable vaccine to the Japanese people to alleviate Japan’s urgent need to fight the epidemic. Of course, the prerequisite is that the Japanese government must "specially handle special matters" to approve and release their vaccines as soon as possible.

According to the information released by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Japanese government has previously signed contracts or reached cooperation intentions with three pharmaceutical companies in the United States and Britain on vaccine supply. Two parties have officially signed the contract: One is to sign a contract with Modena of the United States on October 29. If the company’s vaccine is successfully developed, it will be shipped from Japan through Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and 40 million doses will be provided in the first half of next year. The third quarter will continue to provide 10 million doses; the second is to sign a contract with the British company AstraZeneca on December 10, if the company's vaccine development is successful, 120 million doses of vaccine will be provided early next year, of which about 30 million will be provided in the first quarter of next year. Japan's JCR Pharmaceuticals is scheduled to produce vaccine stock solutions in China and purchase vaccines from overseas. The intention for cooperation is that Japan reached a basic agreement with Pfizer on July 31. If the company successfully develops a vaccine, Japan will receive 120 million doses (60 million inoculations) before the end of June next year. Continue to negotiate the final contract. In addition, Novavax of the United States and Takeda have reached a collaboration agreement to plan to produce vaccines in Japan.

The mRNA COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech of Germany has begun to implement the first and second phase trials in Japan in October. 160 Japanese people aged 20 to 85 will be vaccinated. It will be submitted to Japan in February next year. 1. The main data of the second phase trial. Pfizer submitted a production and sales license application to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on December 18. If approved, 120 million doses of vaccine will be provided to Japan in the first half of next year. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare stated that it will review the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine based on the data submitted by Pfizer, and decide whether to approve it as soon as mid-February 2021.

In terms of the vaccination plan, based on the contracts or vaccine supply intentions reached with 3 US and British pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, Modena and AstraZeneca, Japan will start vaccination work in the first half of 2021 if the vaccine development is confirmed. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has requested prefectures, counties and municipalities across the country to speed up preparations for new crown vaccination. The Japanese government is considering first vaccinating about 10,000 medical practitioners in late February 2021, vaccinating the remaining about 3 million medical practitioners in mid-March, vaccinating senior citizens in late March, and vaccinating all citizens in April. People with underlying diseases will be vaccinated first.

Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Norihisa Tamura emphasized that the vaccine to be used will be evaluated and judged on the basis of a practical review of the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine. He said that the United States has issued emergency use permits for related vaccines and started vaccination, and Japan will also "as the highest priority subject for the highest priority review." Regarding some of the side effects of vaccines in the United States and Europe, Tamura said that it will collect relevant information from abroad and use it as an important reference data in Japan's vaccine review work. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga stated on a TBS TV program on December 21 that it is very important to confirm the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine. Once confirmed, the Prime Minister’s residence will set up a special countermeasure team to coordinate various government departments to start vaccination. Generally, the Japanese government vaccine approval process takes about one year, and individual cases can be used as "exceptions" to simplify procedures. In May of this year, Japan approved the use of a new coronary pneumonia treatment drug in just 3 days.

The Japanese government has sufficient legal and financial preparations for vaccination against US and British pharmaceutical companies. Congress quickly passed the "Vaccination Act (Amendment)" on December 2, allowing the new crown vaccine as a special case of "temporary vaccination". The country will bear the cost of vaccination. Once serious side effects or health damage problems occur, the country will also provide certain compensation. In the 2021 fiscal budget decided by the Japanese cabinet on December 21, 5 trillion yen was included in the preparation of new crown epidemic prevention funds, including 573.6 billion yen in special funds for vaccination.

Japanese society has high expectations for vaccines from American and British pharmaceutical companies, but also has hidden worries. Japanese media are concerned that Pfizer’s vaccine was licensed for use in the United States in only 3 weeks, but the number of infections in Japan is much smaller than that in the United States and Europe. The clinical trials of the vaccine in Japan are too small, with only 160 subjects. It is difficult to truly confirm the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine. Ishii Ken, a professor at the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Tokyo, believes that Pfizer’s vaccines have undergone tens of thousands of clinical trials in different countries, including Asians. So far, no differences in side effects between different races have been found. However, the review authority requires Pay attention to "Haste will fail." Nowadays, Japanese society has both the hope of getting a vaccine right away, and the cautious idea of ​​"Vaccine development is too fast and risky, wait for vaccination". Therefore, getting a vaccine is "both benefits and risks."

Japanese media paid close attention to the serious side effects of Pfizer and Modena vaccines in clinical trials and actual vaccination. They noticed that on December 15th, a woman in the United States suffered a severe allergic reaction after receiving Pfizer vaccine and was hospitalized. ; Two British medical staff experienced severe allergic reactions after vaccination; in the previous clinical trials, the vaccination also experienced a higher proportion of fatigue, headache, fever above 38 degrees and so on. Japanese media believe that after all, it is targeted at hundreds of thousands and millions of healthy people, and serious side effects after vaccination must be carefully considered.

Professor Tetsuya Matsumoto of the International University of Medical Welfare in Japan believes that the vaccine is certainly worth looking forward to, but because of side effects, I hope the Japanese government will not make a hasty decision.

In terms of domestic vaccine research and development, according to the information released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan has five major forces in the development of vaccines from different companies and related institutions. They have also received funding subsidies from the Japanese government, and some have entered the second and third phases of clinical trials. Experiment, but the scale of the test subjects is small, about five to six hundred people.

In people's impression, Japan has a high level of medical technology and a strong ability in medical research and development, but this time, its domestic vaccine research and development process seems to be relatively lagging. The decisive reason is temporarily unknown, but the following objective factors exist. First, Japan's initial epidemic prevention and control effect was good, and the number of people infected was not large. After the epidemic expanded, research on the new crown virus was rapidly deepened, and the treatment of new crown pneumonia was effective, and the treatment of drugs and measures to prevent patients from becoming more severe became abundant. Therefore, Japan's demand for vaccines is not large, and it does not seem to be so urgent. Second, Japan has strict ethics in medical research and development, relatively complete laws dealing with drug side effects and medical accidents, and a more cautious stand on the use of genetic technology to develop vaccines. Third, most of the Japanese medical and pharmaceutical R&D capital is in the hands of pharmaceutical giants. The Japanese, American and European pharmaceutical giants have in-depth exchanges of capital, technology and market interests. Japanese pharmaceutical companies have actually participated in the vaccine development and production of British and American pharmaceutical companies. process. Fourth, judging from some of the policy measures of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan seems to be more inclined to rely on the Western Group of Seven (G7) to respond to the challenges and opportunities arising from the global spread of the epidemic to promote new crown medicine and vaccine diplomacy.

Novel Coronavirus vaccine (NOVEL coronavirus vaccine), a novel irus vaccine (NOVEL Coronavirus vaccine), developed by a team of Researchers from the University of Oxford, has been shown to induce a strong immune response without causing serious side effects.
The vaccine under evaluation is a chimpanzee adenovirus vector vaccine.
The team's clinical trial in the UK involved 1077 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 55 who had not been infected with novel Coronavirus.
According to the report, in this phase of the trial, the vaccine showed good safety, no serious side effects, some volunteers after inoculation of mild side effects are also manageable;
The vaccine induces a stronger immune response in two aspects of the body's immune system -- a T-cell response within 14 days of inoculation and an antibody response within 28 days.
Lead author Professor Andrew Pollard, of Oxford University, said the vaccine candidate was designed to induce the immune system to attack viruses and infected cells in two ways - antibodies and T-cell responses.
But Pollard said the team will need further clinical trials to see if the vaccine can effectively protect people from novel Coronavirus infection and how long the protection can last.
The team says they are currently conducting larger clinical trials of the vaccine in the UK, Brazil and South Africa.

Many rumors about novel Coronavirus health are circulating in this anxious world.
One concern is that mosquitoes could feed on an infected person and then transmit the virus to another person.
Not to worry, according to a new study by researchers at Kansas State University.

Who has declared that novel Coronavirus will not spread from mosquito bites.
Who even included this information in its "Rumor Killer" page on COVID-19, stating that "to date there is no information or evidence that novel Coronavirus may be transmitted by mosquitoes."

"Although the WHO has made it clear that mosquitoes do not transmit the virus, our study provides the first hard data to support this theory," said Stephen Higgs of Kansas State University.

The researchers studied three common mosquito species that are widely distributed.
"We demonstrate that the SARS-COV-2 virus cannot replicate in these mosquitoes even under extreme conditions, and therefore cannot be transmitted to humans even in the unlikely event that mosquitoes feed on the virus host," the study said.

The study was conducted at the Biosafety Research Institute in Kansas, a highly secure laboratory facility for infectious disease research.