These are the 7 most important challenges for corona vaccination

These are the seven most important questions for developing a vaccine against Covid-19

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  Is the vaccination safe?
  

  Vaccinations are given to healthy people to prevent them from getting dangerous diseases. But their benefits must clearly outweigh them. There is therefore little tolerance for harmful side effects.

  Initial tests with coronavirus vaccines, which were carried out in small groups on young, healthy people, have so far shown that the majority of the vaccinated volunteers experience some mild side effects such as fever, fatigue and pain at the injection site.

  This raises the question of whether people who are older or have pre-existing medical conditions – those who need the most protection from Covid-19 – tolerate these vaccinations as well as the test groups. Therefore, further studies with larger groups of people are necessary. The larger the test groups, the more likely it is that rare side effects from vaccination will be discovered.

  REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

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  Does the vaccination work?
  

  The answer to this question is probably more complicated than a simple yes or no. A perfect vaccine would be 100 percent effective to prevent viral infections. But no vaccine developer expects this to be the case with Covid-19. For example, the U.S. drug agency requires at least 50 percent effectiveness before allowing vaccination.

  A coronavirus vaccine, like the flu shot, could be partially effective. This means that vaccination reduces the likelihood of a severe course of the disease. Even with vaccination, it would be possible for the corona virus to continue to circulate in society.

  creativeneko/Shutterstock

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  Will vaccination wear out over time?
  

  Vaccines are being developed to stimulate the body to produce antibodies that protect against future infections. Companies such as Moderna, Pfizer and AstraZeneca compared their vaccines in early studies with a sample of recovered Covid 19 patients. The results have shown that the vaccinations produce an antibody response that is at least as strong as that which the body of a typical Covid-19 survivor naturally develops. However, some research suggests that coronavirus antibodies do not stay in the body for very long. If antibodies are really that volatile, protecting a vaccine could be short-lived.

  However, the body’s immunity is not only linked to antibodies. White blood cells have an impressive immunological memory that can help the body identify and attack the invading virus should it ever return. T cells can destroy infected cells, and B cells work to produce new antibodies. A vaccine could help do both.

  “There is no evidence that immunity is volatile, and there are still no strict estimates of how long it will last,” Marm Kilpatrick, a disease ecologist at the University of California at Santa Cruz, told Business Insider.

  Boosters could also help improve immunity again.

  Getty Images

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  Can the vaccine be mass-produced?
  

  When a vaccine turns out to be safe and effective, another problem arises: it has to be mass-produced.

  The most promising vaccines use several different technologies – such as mRNA, recombinant proteins and adenoviruses – each of which has its own complex manufacturing process. Although all leading vaccine developers have expanded their production capacity, none of them will be able to meet global demand in the foreseeable future. Moderna, AstraZeneca and Pfizer have announced that their vaccines will require two vaccinations a few weeks apart.

  In addition, some vaccine candidates must be kept refrigerated. This is likely to pose a huge infrastructure problem for many developing countries.

  REUTERS/Andreas Gebert

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  When will we realistically have a vaccine?
  

  The question is less clear than it sounds. Because even if the tests are successful, the vaccination still has to overcome several hurdles: approval, manufacture and distribution.

  It is possible that an emergency vaccine will already be approved in some countries in autumn. According to David Heymann, an epidemiologist and advisor to the World Health Organization, it is likely that these first limited doses will reach the population at greatest risk of infection. “These would likely be health and nursing staff, people with pre-existing conditions, and the elderly,” he said. “After that, other populations would likely be considered, provided there was enough vaccine.”

  Arne Dedert/picture alliance via Getty Images

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  Is the vaccination also accepted?
  

  Despite all the successes that vaccination has achieved in the past decades, there are people who are skeptical to suspicious of them or who even completely reject them. Even with vaccines with which there is already a very long experience the benefits of this have been repeatedly checked by the Standing Vaccination Committee and is justified.

  It is therefore important for pharmaceutical companies and politicians to win people’s trust. And this should only be possible through the greatest possible transparency. The costs of such vaccination for the individual should not be neglected.

  Associated Press

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  What about booster shots?
  

  Those who do not have their vaccination status checked regularly by a doctor can quickly develop vaccine gaps. Even with certain vaccinations it is necessary to keep a time interval between several doses.

  Even with a vaccine against the coronavirus, it is possible that the vaccinated need not only receive one but two vaccine doses at intervals of a few weeks in order for it to be effective. Health systems in all countries must therefore ensure that people actually come back for the second dose – which is certainly a challenge.

  REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson/File Photo/File Photo

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  Vaccinations are not the only hope
  

  Despite the exuberance we saw in the promising early results of many vaccine programs, experts were pretty sure that even a coronavirus vaccine would not bring life back to the pre-pandemic overnight.

  Nevertheless, doctors are learning how to better care for coronavirus patients. Drug manufacturers have already identified treatments that can help people recover faster and reduce deaths in critically ill Covid 19 patients. New, experimental therapeutic agents could improve patient results even more drastically. Antibody drugs in particular are now being tested in humans to see if they can both treat Covid-19 and prevent infections in high-risk patients. If they work, some may be ready this fall – before a vaccine.

  Daniel Balakov / Getty Images

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This text has been translated and edited from English. You can find the original version here.

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