|| "GO CORONA GO" SLOGAN COMES TO BE TRUE WITH ITALY, ISRAEL, AND SO ON ||

                         

The Significant Breakthrough of Israel...

Yesterday, Israeli Defence Minister Naftali Bennett announced the country had a remarkable breakthrough in the development of COVID-19 vaccine. He said that Israel's Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) has developed a monoclonal neutralizing antibody, which will effectively neutralize novel corona virus in the body of the carriers. Bennet stated that Italian researchers have made a ‘significant breakthrough’ in developing an antibody to combat novel corona virus. He was quoted as saying, “I am proud of the institute staff for this terrific breakthrough.” As far as we known, according to comprehensive scientific publication from around the world, the Biological Research Institute is the first in the world to achieve this breakthrough in these three parameters at the same time. 

The discovery at the Biological Research Institute will not be useful in creating a vaccine to stave off coronavirus, but would be useful in treating patients who have contracted COVID-19, the disease that results from coronavirus. Moreover, the antibody has not been tested outside of a Petri dish. Several steps will need to follow before a potential human trial.

Italy Claims to develop first COVID-19 Vaccine...

While multiple research groups are developing potential vaccines, Italian scientists have claimed to develop a vaccine that has successfully generated antibodies in mice that work on human cells. The vaccine has been tested in the Spallanzani Hospital hospital in Rome. It is said to be one of the most advanced stages of testing of a potential vaccine in the country as the vaccine neutralizes the SARS-CoV-2 in the human cells.

After a single vaccination, the mice developed antibodies that can block the virus from infecting human cells. The researchers selected the two best candidates after observing that the five vaccine candidates generated a large number of antibodies.

The Oxford Vaccine against COVID-19...

Oxford University initiated a phase-1 human clinical trial of its vaccine on April 23, where two volunteers were injected and Elisa Granato is one of the first ones to get injected with the vaccine. The vaccine -ChAdOx1 nCoV-19- was developed under three months by the University’s Jenner Institute. It uses a weakened strain of common cold virus (adenovirus) that causes infections in chimpanzees. For the vaccine to work, scientists have taken the genetic material of the novel coronavirus present on the surface of the virus and put it in the virus.

The Plasma Therapy...

Plasma therapy is being treated as yet another complementary treatment to help the COVID-19 patients recover. The convalescent plasma therapy involves transfusing a blood component known as plasma from the body of people who have recovered from the virus attack to the severely ill patients or coronavirus patients who are at a high risk. This is said to help in kickstarting the passive immunity in the patient and could help those whose bodies aren’t producing enough antibodies to curb the disease.

Several hospitals across India have dived in to use plasma therapy for treating the coronavirus patients including Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh. Delhi Health Minister had reported that six severely ill patients of COVID-19 had nearly recovered after the usage of convalescent plasma therapy.

However, it is important to note that there are no definitive studies that show the effectiveness of plasma therapy in strengthening the immune system against the disease. Moreover, the Union Health Ministry has advised against considering plasma therapy as the ultimate treatment to battle the highly infectious disease as it is at an experimental stage and has the potential to cause life-threatening transfusion-related complications.

When Will We Have The Corona Virus Vaccine?

The world has joined hands to find a vaccine for the novel coronavirus and scientists and medical researchers across the globe are scrambling for the first breakthrough. Since the virus spreads easily and is already overwhelming the healthcare system of most countries, a vaccine is the most effective way of putting a pause on the spread of infectious disease. At present, almost 80 groups globally are working at break-neck speed for the same, even though a vaccine fit for humans normally takes years to develop. Currently, there are 111 potential vaccines for the SARS-CoV-2 which are in different stages of clinical trials.