Vaccine 4 1 1 for 08-04-2020 - tracking the race to find a cure for the Coronavirus - Covid 19

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This is Vaccine 4-1-1.  As the race for a COVID-19 vaccine continues, here are the numbers:

167 vaccines are in development, according to The World Health Organization and The New York Times:  139 are in pre-clinical trials, 10 in Phase I Clinical Trials, 10 in Phase II, 8 in Phase III, two are in China, one in the UK, one in Australia and four in the U.S. Two of those are antibody treatments for those already infected that could potentially also protect from the virus. One Chinese vaccine candidate has been approved for limited use in the Chinese military as Phase II clinical trials continue. 

On this episode of Vaccine 411……What do “freezer farms” have to do with a COVID-19 vaccine?

First, the latest vaccine news from around the world:

United States: Eli Lilly will enter Phase III clinical trials for their antibody treatment. They will recruit 2400 residents and employees from long term care facilities for the trials. 

Russia:  Officials have said Russia will launch a nationwide vaccination campaign in October. Making them the first country to inoculate people against the virus. Critics are skeptical as the vaccine has yet to complete clinical trials and no data has been released. 

Italy: A new study from San Raffaele hospital in Milan, relays that those who have recovered from COVID-19 showed increased rates of psychiatric disorders including PTSD, anxiety, insomnia and depression. The report, published in “Brain, Behavior and Immunity”, said this can be caused by the immune response to the virus and from stress related to the stigma of the virus, isolation and fear of infecting others. 

United Parcel Service, better known as UPS, is building two “freezer farms” in Kentucky and The Netherlands. The complexes will contain 600 freezers that can house 28.8 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine at -112 degrees Fahrenheit. The locations were picked because they should allow overnight shipping to anywhere on the planet, reports Bloomberg. The freezer farms are just one step in what will be the Herculean task of delivering a COVID-19 vaccine around the world once it is developed. Many of the potential vaccines will require refrigeration and as the global head of air carrier relationships at San Francisco based Flexport relayed, “vaccines chains are exponentially more complex than PPE chains. You can’t ruin PPE by leaving it on the tarmac for a few days. You will destroy vaccines”. The head of Emirates Skycargo’s Pharmaceutical Division, estimates one Boeing 777 freighter can haul one million doses. He estimates that protecting half of the world’s population would require nearly 8,000 cargo planes. On top of that, there are a limited number of airports around the world that have carriers certified to handle pharmaceuticals. The manager of aviation trade and logistics for Miami International Airport said he doesn’t think they are ready, “because I don’t think we know what to expect”. Most agree communication and early planning are going to be key in the race to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine once it is developed. The EVP and Chief Commercial Officer for Atlas Air Worldwide told STAT media group recently, “We’re not planning proactively…. because the various parties here are not connecting.” But that there is still time for drug makers, distributors and governments to understand how to support distribution and “make people healthy again”. 

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