Health

US scientists complete first coronavirus vaccine – but it could be 2 years before it’s available


THE first coronavirus vaccine has reportedly been completed by scientists at a genetic engineering company in Texas.

Scientists at Greffex Inc, which has a corporate headquarters in Houston and a laboratory in Aurora, Colorado, say they finished developing the vaccine this week.


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 US scientists claim they have finished developing the first vaccine against the deadly coronavirus

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US scientists claim they have finished developing the first vaccine against the deadly coronavirusCredit: Getty Images – Getty

However, it could still be two years before the vaccine is available to use.

It now needs to be tested in animal experiments before human trials can begin.

The development comes as the death toll hit 2,247, and cases of the virus reached 76,727 across the world.

Greffex’s company president and CEO John Price told the Houston Business Journal that they did not use a living or killed virus to form the vaccine – for safety reasons.

The coronavirus is so poorly understood, has spread so quickly and has killed enough people that scientists at Greffex did not want to risk exposure that could trigger the deadly illness known as COVID-19.

Instead, adenovirus-based vector vaccines, which are widely employed against various infectious diseases or cancers, were used.

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Adenoviruses are among the most common causes of viral respiratory infections, accounting for between two and five per cent of colds.

“The trick in making a vaccine is can you scale the vaccine that you’ve made to be able to make a certain number of doses, can you test that vaccine quickly and efficiently and then can you get it into patients,” Price told local outlet KHOU 11.

“And that’s where we have an edge as well on the other companies that are out there.”

The vaccine is the product of an $18.9 million (£14.64 million) contract Greffex received in September 2019 from the National Institute of Health’s National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, aimed at fighting infectious threats, the Business Journal reported.

What is coronavirus?

Coronavirus is an airborne virus, spread in a similar way to colds and the flu.

The virus attacks the respiratory system, causing lung lesions.

Symptoms include a runny nose, headache, cough and fever, shortness of breath, chills and body aches.

It is incredibly contagious and is spread through contact with anything the virus is on as well as infected breath, coughs or sneezes.

In most cases, you won’t know whether you have a coronavirus or a different cold-causing virus, such as rhinovirus.

But if a coronavirus infection spreads to the lower respiratory tract (your windpipe and your lungs), it can cause pneumonia, especially in older people, people with heart disease or people with weakened immune systems.

There is no vaccine currently available for coronavirus.

In 2003 an outbreak of a similar virus, SARS, infected more than 8,000 people in 37 countries before it was brought under control, killing 800 of those worldwide.

If the vaccine wins government approval in the US, Greffex will give it away for free to the hardest-hit countries, Price said.

More than 2,100 people have died as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, with all but 11 of those deaths in mainland China.

Worldwide, more than 75,700 people have been infected.

In England, a total of nine people have tested positive for the virus, while more than 5,000 have tested negative.

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The NHS confirmed that all but one of them have been discharged from hospital.

Yesterday, it was revealed that the UK high street could be hit with shortages of stock due to the deadly coronavirus.

Stores including Asos, B&M and Primark rely heavily on supply from China, where large numbers of factories have been shut down amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

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