Covid-19 vaccine tracker: US regulator issues stricter guidelines, Russia is developing 2nd vaccine

Coronavirus Vaccine latest update: As researchers around the world are trying to develop an effective vaccine against Coronavirus, the US and Russia have taken significant steps. The American drug regulator Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued stricter guidelines for getting approval for Vaccine. Russia is fast-tracking a second coronavirus vaccine after its Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik-V received much criticism from around the world, as per Indian Express report.

According to the FDA guidelines, developers of any coronavirus vaccine candidates have to monitor the health of trial participants and volunteers for at least two months before applying for the emergency use. With the new guidelines, chances of getting a vaccine before the November 3 Presidential Elections have become very less. Four frontrunners in the race to develop Coronavirus vaccine in the US are Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, and Johnson and Johnson.

While Pfizer has claimed that it hoped to release a reliable data on the efficacy of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate BNT162 in the month of October itself, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, have categorically said that their vaccine would be ready by early 2021. AstraZeneca’s vaccine in collaboration with Oxford is yet to receive approval for resumption of the late-stage trial in the US after it was stopped a month ago.

Meanwhile, Russia is developing another Coronavirus vaccine. The second Covid-19 vaccine candidate is being developed by a former Soviet bioweapons research laboratory known as Vector State Virology and Biotechnology Centre. Russian Health Minister has stated that he expected the Covid-19 vaccine candidate will get the approval as early as mid-October, as per the Indian Express report.

Earlier on August 12, Russia’s first Coronavirus vaccine Sputnik-V received approval from the Moscow-based regulator.