A vaccine development expert at the University of Nebraska Medical Center says it’s likely we’ll eventually have a variety of COVID-19 vaccines and expects the virus to become what he calls a “fifth circulating seasonal coronavirus” that we’ll have deal with for a while. Dr. David Brett-Major is a professor at UNMC’s College of Public Health and thinks it’s good that multiple companies are currently working on vaccines.
“The more variety in vaccine platforms available that work in a situation like this where many people will be seeking vaccination is useful,” Dr. Brett-Major said.
He points out many of the companies working on vaccines are using development platforms that have never produced a licensed vaccine. But he says, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
“Many of the approaches that people are using are approaches that most people who work in the vaccine space feel is actually the next step in how you would develop the vaccines and some of them have a track record in clinical product development in people even though they’ve not yet been licensed,” he said.
Recent news about an encouraging vaccine trial announced by biotech company Moderna was met with initial optimism, but was then questioned because key trial data wasn’t released by the company. Brett-Major says peer review of promising vaccines is a critical part of the process.
“It matters that things go through the peer review process. It does not mean that they didn’t do a good job. It doesn’t mean that it’s not a great step,” he said. “But what do with it, how to put it in context and how to very specifically understand the results in terms of what it might mean for future product development, much like the overall vaccine development process, has to be a deliberate review among peers.”
Much like a seasonal flu vaccine, we could see different levels of COVID-19 vaccines, possibly a nasal spray vaccine for low-risk people and a vaccine injected into muscle for higher risk people. Dr. Brett-Major is optimistic we’ll see significant vaccine progress before the end of 2020.
“I think that we will have a vaccine before the end of the year that’s ready for large-scale trial,” he said. “The problem is you really don’t know if it’s going to be effective in a public health use case until you do the large-scale trial. You have a lot of promise and progress, they should receive attention and it should result in following work, but I do not think we’re going to know that a vaccine is very effective until later.”
He says developing a vaccine is difficult and financially risky for companies and isn’t financially viable unless they have assurances of governmental purchasing for stockpiles. He thinks many companies will wait until they know they can make money on large-scale vaccine distribution.