COVID-19 Vaccines and Treatments?
Currently there are no specific vaccines or treatments for COVID-19 however researchers around the world are working hard to find a solution.
Vaccines
There are over 20 vaccines for COVID-19 currently being developed in countries around the world including the UK, USA, China and Australia. All of which are still at the early stage of studies.
Example studies:
A group of researchers in the US, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have developed a vaccine ready for human trial. They have started recruiting volunteers for Phase 1 clinical trial and four individuals have recieved the jab.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51906604
At Imperial College London, a group of researchers led by Dr Robin Shattock, showed promising results of a vaccine in mice studies and plan on human clinical trials very soon.
The same goes with a group from Oxford University, led by Prof Sarah Gilbert, who is expecting to start Phase 1 clinical trial next month.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/19/uk-drive-develop-coronavirus-vaccine-science
As the studies are still early stage, it is unknown when exactly a vaccine will be ready for mass production. It may take years.
Treatments
There are also multiple trials currently going on all over the world to find potential treatments for COVID-19.
Dr Bruce Aylward from the World Health Organisation (WHO), said: "There's only one drug right now that we think may have real efficacy and that's Remdesivir."
Example studies:
In the US several organisations, including the NIH, are recruiting patients for clinical trials using Remdesivir, an anti-viral. Remdesivir has previously been used to treat Ebola and shown promising results for treating Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acure Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). There are also studies in China for the same drug.
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-clinical-trial-remdesivir-treat-covid-19-begins.
Choloroquine, an anti-malarial, is being investigated as a potential drug to treat COVID-19. Based on in-vitro studies, chloroquine can inhibit the virus by interfering with the ability of the virus to enter the cell, therefore preventing infection. Further research needs to be done to confirm this finding. Several countries, including China, are performing human clinical trials using Choloroquine at present.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41421-020-0156-0
There are more than 80 ongoing clinical trials around the world in an attempt to find a treatment for COVID-19 pending results.
References:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/20/when-will-a-coronavirus-vaccine-be-ready
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/19/uk-drive-develop-coronavirus-vaccine-science
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/chloroquine-malaria-drug-treat-coronavirus-doctors/story?id=69664561