Pfizer says its coronavirus vaccine could be ready in fall

A major American pharmaceutical corporation has announced it could have a coronavirus vaccine ready by the fall. 

Pfizer Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said Tuesday a coronavirus vaccine for emergency use could be ready by the autumn and for broader roll out by the end of 2020. Pfizer said human testing will not get underway until August. 

Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, CEO Bourla stated: ‘This is a crisis right now, and a solution is desperately needed by all.’

Pfizer joins the global race to find a coronavirus vaccine, with several other firms saying they too have accelerated their testing timetable. 

As many as 100 potential COVID-19 candidate vaccines are now under development by biotech and research teams around the world, and at least five of these are in preliminary testing in people in what are known as Phase 1 clinical trials. 

Pfizer’s announcement comes as 14 US states start to partially lift or ease lockdown and stay-at-home orders, gradually allowing a resumption of economic activity.

Public health authorities have warned, however, an increase in human interaction to massage economic activity could spark a ‘second wave’ of infections. 

This, just as social-distancing measures appear to be bringing coronavirus outbreaks under control in parts of the nation. 

Confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US stand at more than 1.3 million, with 59,061 deaths.

Pfizer said of its fall vaccine it is continuing to test its safety in the meantime, and that results on that front are due to be published in early May, according to Fox News. 

As the global rush to develop a coronavirus vaccine gathers pace, more researchers and drugmakers are ramping up testing. 

Oxford University’s Jenner Institute is one such body leading the trials, scheduling more than 6,000 candidates for testing by the end of May. 

The Jenner Institute had run a previous trial last year on an earlier form of coronavirus, discovering the vaccine was not dangerous for humans.

If successful, the university could be in a position to make available a few million doses by September, according to a report in The New York Times. 

Oxford’s vaccine did prove effective in coronavirus trials last month when six rhesus macaque monkeys were inoculated at the National Institutes of Health’s Rocky Mountain Lab in Montana.

Immunity in monkeys however is no guarantee in humans. 

And as more than a dozen US states prepare to gradually ease lockdown measures in order to revive their stagnated economies, many in the US consider a vaccine a sure fire route to some sense of normality. 

However, public health experts have warned other means are necessary.

They suggest ramping up testing into the millions, 100,000 extra healthcare staff to contract trace and isolate people exposed to the virus, and open data exchange is the way to go. 

To assist US states in partially lifting or easing lockdown and stay-at-home orders, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has drafted a list of protocols for largely small and medium-size businesses such a restaurants, salons and tattoo parlors to follow. 

Depending on the business they include the closure of break rooms, limited numbers of people seated inside restaurants and tables six feet apart, screens affixed to the registers, disposable menus and plates, and floor markings. 

Some schoolchildren will be required to eat lunch inside their classrooms.