News Leak Centre

No Fear No Favour

Covid-19 vaccine trial protocols: All you need to know

By Udisha Srivastav

The coronavirus vaccine race has picked up a notch and various countries are busy working on their indigenous prototypes. However, a vaccine usually takes at least a year before it’s available for public use. Every vaccine needs to follow the required protocols and if the process is rushed through, the consequences could be disastrous.

In a recent article published in the Livemint, the media outlet quoted a veteran personal health columnist Jane E. Brody. Her quote is a reminder about how the premature release of a vaccine can cause unsurmountable damage. Jane cited the original roll-out of the Salk polio vaccine in 1955 and wrote, “A mishap in mass-producing the vaccine caused polio in 70,000 children, permanently crippling 164 of them and killing 10″.

Hence, here is a brief overview of the vaccine trial procedure that is followed in general. Have a look!

Pre-clinical testing

The vaccine trial procedure starts with pre-clinical testing. In this initial stage, safety testing is usually carried out in animals. This gives an idea to the researchers about the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing the disease.

Testing in humans – Clinical trials

In the second stage, testing is confirmed on humans through three phases.

The first stage testifies how safe the vaccine is, and if it has any adverse effects.
The second stage tests at the clinical trial aim to look for the efficacy of the vaccine on a large number of people.
In the last stage, it’s tested on several thousand people for safety and effective results.

Regulatory approvals

After the clinal trial testing, the vaccine is required to get full licensure to be considered useful in a public health emergency like Covid-19 outburst.

After the regulatory approvals, the vaccine is mass-produced for public use.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *