Why October 22 is an Important Day for Coronavirus Vaccines? Details

The US Food and Drug Administration is planning to conduct an advisory panel meeting on October 22 to discuss the progress of various COVID-19 vaccines. The meeting is important since large- scale clinical trials are likely to be held by Moderna Inc, Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca Plc. 

A top US health regulator who will be among the panel that decides the fate of coronavirus vaccines told media that the trials were enrolling a good number of volunteers and it was “possible” that data could be available to interpret by October. Otherwise the committee will be discussing regulatory issues regarding the vaccine production. 

Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE said that they are developing a COVID19 vaccine jointly and they have submitted it for regulatory review.  The companies revealed that only 20% of volunteers how took the vaccine have developed side effects such as mild to moderate fever. The companies will continue to analyze data from Phase 1 trials that were held in U.S and Germany.

“In the US, the race to produce a vaccine has become the centerpiece of his Trump administration's response. The US government has invested nearly $11 billion to help develop and manufacture more than half a dozen coronavirus vaccine candidates,” Livemint reported.