By Anthony Mugo
Vaccines work by preparing the body to recognise disease causing organisms and prepare itself to ensure they do not get established and cause illness. There are vaccines for more than 20 diseases which save 2-3 million lives every year by making it possible to have people immunized against diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, influenza, and measles.
As the Covid-19 disease has caused unprecedented damage to lives and economies around the world, one of the most frequently asked question: When will a Covid-19 vaccine become available? According to the WHO, there are currently more than 169 vaccines candidates being developed in different countries and regions across the world. Of these, 26 have progressed to human trials.
One of the most promising vaccine has been developed by Oxford University. Kenya, through the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), is one of the countries participating in the trial. Known as ChAdOx1 some 40 volunteers, most of them health workers, have already been recruited for the trial in Kenya. So far, 8,000 volunteers have received the vaccine in the UK, Brazil, and South Africa, making Kenya the second African country to take part in the trial.
Only two other vaccine candidates have reached the same stage as ChAdOx1 namely, Moderna by Germany’s BioNTech and China’s Sinovac.
The process of developing a vaccine begins with basic research followed by clinical evaluation. This is followed by licensing and approval before large scale production and distribution can commence to make a vaccine widely available.
Even going by the most optimistic scenarios it is highly unlikely that a Covid-19 vaccine will be available before 2021. Dr. Marianne Mureithi, a lead research scientist at Kenya Aids Vaccine Initiative - Institute of Clinical Research (KAVI-ICR), projects a period of 12 to 18 months for scientists to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus.
She notes: “In reality vaccine science takes quite some time because there is need to first understand the virus, understand which targets need to be used so as to have an effective vaccine, but nevertheless there is active research that is on-going around the world trying to come up with this vaccine and I am sure within 12 and 18 months we will have a vaccine ready to use,” says Dr. Mureithi.
An initiative known as COVAX led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi – the Vaccine Alliance and the World Health Organisation is intended at ensuring that once a Covid-19 vaccine becomes available, it will be distributed to all countries irrespective of whether they are high and low income.
