Virology News

Manufacturers warn they will struggle to meet demand as governments seek to ease pressure on health services...

China's 5th potential coronavirus vaccine has begun human trials and was seen without any major adverse reactions from patients...

The GAVI vaccines alliance said on Thursday it had raised $8.8 billion from international donor governments, companies and philanthropic foundations to fund its immunisation programmes through to 2025.

THE coronavirus vaccine could be ready to give in the form of an inhaler by next month, it was reported.Trials of a vaccine being developed by Oxford University are currently ongoing with the init…...

Health: Covid-19 is quickly heading to become the deadliest event in Brazilian history — killing more people than the Spanish flu and the Paraguay War.

"COVID-19 is a unique disease. There is more going on with these atypical blood clots than we first realized.

A staff member displays samples of the COVID-19 inactivated vaccine at Sinovac Biotech Ltd., in Beijing, March 16, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei) BEIJING, June 9 (Xinhua) -- China's inactivated COVID-19 vaccine has shown potent protection against SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease, in animal experiments, according to a study published in the journal Cell. Inactivated vaccines use the killed version of the germ that causes a disease. Research on the vaccine candidate BBIBP-CorV was jointly conducted by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products under the China National Biotec Group, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences as well as other institutions. Researchers reported the pilot-scale production of the vaccine candidate which induces high levels of neutralizing antibody concentrations in mice, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, and nonhuman primates including cynomolgus monkeys and rhesus macaques to provide protection against SARS-CoV-2. A neutralizing antibody can defend a cell from a pathogen or infectious particle by obliterating any biological effect. Two-dose immunizations using two micrograms of each dose provided strong protection against a SARS-CoV-2 intratracheal challenge in rhesus macaques. No antibody-dependent enhancement of infection was detected in the experiment. A staff member takes out samples of the COVID-19 inactivated vaccine at a vaccine production plant of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) in Beijing, April 11, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei) In addition, the vaccine exhibits high productivity and good genetic stability for manufacturing, which supports its further evaluation in a clinical trial, according to the research. The inactivated vaccine candidate was approved for clinical trials in late April, according to the China National Biotec Group. The Beijing Institute of Biological Products has increased its manufacturing capacity by building a large production unit in Beijing which meets high bio-safety protection requirements. The unit will be able to produce 100 to 120 million inactivated COVID-19 vaccines per year once mass production begins, which will help ensure adequate supply. China is currently developing COVID-19 vaccines in five categories -- inactivated vaccines, recombinant protein vaccines, live attenuated influenza vaccines, adenovirus vaccines, and nucleic acid-based vaccines. To date, four inactivated vaccines and one adenovirus vaccine have been approved for clinical trials. Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang said at a press conference on Sunday that China will make its COVID-19 vaccine "a global public good" when it is ready for application. ■

He said there is ‘no way’ COVID-19 will burn itself out simply through current public health measures, like SARS did in 2014...

Pandemic hunting scientists warn of a 'perfect storm' for new diseases to emerge from wildlife.

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says a COVID-19 vaccine must be shared by the world in order to..• Front Page • One News Page: Thursday, 4 June 2020...

A century after the 1918 pandemic, South America’s largest country has passed Britain to claim the world’s second-highest death toll...

What a difference a pandemic makes. Surveys have found that more than two thirds thirds of adult Australians have had -- or intend to have -- the 2020 flu vaccination shot.

Hopes are running high that a coronavirus vaccine will be ready by the end of the year. But some scientists caution that the hype might be outpacing the reality.

A staff member tests samples of the COVID-19 inactivated vaccine at a vaccine production plant of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) in Beijing, capital of China, April 11, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei) BEIJING, June 7 (Xinhua) -- China will make its COVID-19 vaccine a global public good when it is ready for application after successful research and clinical trials, a senior Chinese official said Sunday. Wang Zhigang, minister of science and technology, said at a press conference in Beijing that international cooperation should be strengthened in vaccine development, clinical trials and application. Vaccine development should focus on ensuring safety, effectiveness, and accessibility, Wang said. China is currently developing COVID-19 vaccines in five categories -- inactivated vaccines, recombinant protein vaccines, live attenuated influenza vaccines, adenovirus vaccines, and nucleic acid-based vaccines, Wang noted. To date, four inactivated vaccines and one adenovirus vaccine have been approved for clinical trials, said a white paper titled "Fighting COVID-19: China in Action," which was released by the State Council Information Office on Sunday. A staff member displays samples of the COVID-19 inactivated vaccine at Sinovac Biotech Ltd., in Beijing, capital of China, March 16, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei) While scientists in China and abroad have kept up with mutual developments, China leads the world in the development of certain types of vaccines, the white paper said. A great deal of international cooperation had been carried out so far on vaccine development, Wang said. Highlighting the significant role that vaccines had played in human history, Wang said both Chinese scientists and those in other countries are trying to make contributions to building a global community of health for all. He however noted that the development of vaccines is a rigorous and complex procedure, which faces many uncertainties and may take a long period of time. Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said at the press conference that China has participated in an international collaboration initiative launched by the World Health Organization to accelerate the development of vaccines and medicines for COVID-19. China will fulfill its promise to provide the world with a safe, effective, and high-quality vaccine when it is ready, and help make the vaccine accessible to and affordable for developing countries, Ma stressed. ■

With a second wave of coronavirus infection threatening the U.S. later this year, experts worry an influx of influenza patients and COVID-19 patients will hit U.S. hospitals at the same time. All the more reason to push flu shots—and top vaccine players Sanofi, Seqirus and GSK are working to ramp...

Population-wide face mask use could push COVID-19 transmission down to controllable levels for national epidemics, and could prevent further waves of the pandemic disease when combined with lockdowns, according to a British study on Wednesday.

Pharma giant Johnson & Johnson is accelerating the vaccine development process...

Professor Ian Frazer of the University of Queensland, notable for his involvement in the development of a vaccine for Human Papilloma Virus ...

Gates said that while it was...