Corona viruses are large, enveloped RNA viruses of both medical and veterinary importance. Interest in this viral family has intensified in the past few years as a result of the identification of a newly emerged corona virus as the causative agent of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). At the molecular level, corona viruses employ a variety of unusual strategies to accomplish a complex program of gene expression.
Progress in the investigation of these processes has been enhanced by the development of reverse genetic systems, an advance that was heretofore obstructed by the enormous size of the corona virus genome.
A Timeline of COVID-19 Developments in 2020. Here’s a look back at how the pandemic has progressed in the first 3 months of the year.
As the world searches for a way to end the corona virus pandemic, the race is on to find and produce a vaccine. Some optimistic forecasts suggest that one could be available in 12-18 months, but researchers are already warning that it might not be physically possible to make enough vaccine for everyone, and that rich countries might hoard supplies.
The production facilities needed will depend on which kind of vaccine turns out to work best. Some researchers say governments and private funders should give vaccine manufacturers money to ramp up their production capacity in advance, even if these facilities are never used. Although money has been pledged to help with this, the promises fall short of the billions of dollars that public-health experts say is needed.
Resources for corona virus will also have to be balanced against the need for other vaccines. Manufacturing facilities around the world can churn out hundreds of millions of doses of influenza vaccine each year, and companies are used to stepping up production at times of high demand. The WHO says it is also working on a plan to ensure the equitable distribution of vaccines. But how that could be enforced in practice isn’t clear. It is possible that by the time a vaccine arrives, much of the world will already have been infected with the new corona virus. Even in that case, however, many might want shots to boost immunity.
One big challenge in creating a lot of vaccine quickly is scaling up manufacturing, because the infrastructure needed will differ depending on the vaccine type. The concern for how to manufacture vaccines efficiently, reliably and safely is always going to be there.
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