By Jonathan Gardner, Ned Pagliarulo, Ben Fidler
Approvals for vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna have kicked off immunization campaigns in the U.S. and Europe. Others could come soon as late-stage trials wrap up.By Jonathan Gardner, Ned Pagliarulo, Ben Fidler
Scientists, drugmakers and governments have moved with unprecedented haste to develop a vaccine against the new coronavirus.
The fastest of them have completed studies proving vaccines can protect against COVID-19 and several, including two developed by Pfizer and Moderna, have won emergency approvals in countries around the world.
Their success is a scientific feat with few parallels. No vaccine has ever been developed so quickly, never mind manufactured for the world.
Vaccine frontrunners have progressed quickly
Use the buttons below to highlight events in each company’s timeline. Solid dots indicate events which have occurred, while striped bars indicate company estimates for when an event will occur.1st volunteer given vaccine1st data available Start of late-stage study1st supply available Current projections assume clinical development succeeds and progresses on time, neither of which are certain to happen. Nami Sumida/ Bio Pharma Dive
The success or failure of vaccines, and the immunization campaigns that will follow, will determine whether the virus becomes endemic, recurring year after year, or is ultimately checked.
With the health of their citizens at stake, governments have invested enormous sums of money into vaccine research and development, and to prepare to manufacture and distribute what will likely need to be billions of doses necessary to keep infection at bay.
Vaccines have become political as well. Russia, seeking a Sputnik-like achievement to tout to the world, approved a vaccine before completing testing, while China cleared experimental shots for limited use early on. In the U.S., the Trump administration pledged more than $11 billion in funding and support for seven candidates through “Operation Warp Speed.”
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