In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. On 16th March, however, the first phase of a clinical trial of a COVID-19 vaccine between the National Institutes of Health and Moderna began. Here's a look at the vaccini and treatments developed so far in the ongoing fight against coronavirus.

Quali vaccini COVID-19 sono stati approvati per l'uso?

Vaccino Moderna

In July 2020, Moderna began studi clinici di fase tre of the COVID-19 vaccine. In November, Moderna officials hanno riferito that their vaccine had achieved an effective rate of 94% in protecting against COVID-19 infection and it was announced the COVID-19 vaccino would be widely available in spring 2021.

In December, the US Food and Drug Administration authorised the Moderna vaccine for emergency use in individuals aged 18 and over. In the UK, the COVID-19 vaccino became the third vaccine approved for use. In May 2021, azienda officials announced their vaccine was effective in clinical trials against COVID-19 in children aged 12 to 17 years.

In September 2021, Moderna announced it was developing a combination booster shot for both COVID-19 e influenza.

Vaccino Pfizer-BioNTech

The pharmaceutical firm Pfizer joined forces with German biotech company BioNTech and Chinese drugmaker Fosun Pharma to develop a two-dose mRNA vaccino when the pandemic started.

In August 2020, company officials said the COVID-19 vaccine had produced a good response in studi clinici di fase uno e due. In November, the company ha annunciato that its vaccino had been more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 infection in clinical trial participants. The UK and the USA approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in December.

In February, a UK studio reported that a single dose of the Pfizer vaccine could reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19 by 70% with an 85% reduction after two doses. In October, the company announced the vaccino was safe and effective for children aged between five and 11 years.

AstraZeneca - Università di Oxford

In April 2020, the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca began a trial clinico di fase uno at the University of Oxford and follow-up trials were carried out throughout the year. The COVID-19 jab was approved for use in the UK in December.

In February 2021, AstraZeneca announced that phase three clinical trial results showed that their COVID-19 vaccino was 82% effective against contracting COVID-19 after 12 weeks. In the same month, the WHO approved the distribution of the AstraZeneca vaccine for emergency use worldwide.

Johnson & Johnson

In July 2020, Johnson & Johnson launched human trials for its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine after releasing details of a study in monkeys that showed the COVID-19 jab offered strong protection. In mid-November, company officials said they expected their vaccine to be ready for approval in the USA by February.

At the start of 2021, the firm announced that the vaccine was 66% effective overall against symptomatic infection, but provided greater protection against severe illness. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was approved for uso in the USA in February 2021 and in the UK in May 2021.

Sputnik V

Ufficialmente noto come Gam-COVID-Vac, Sputnik V è un vaccino contro il COVID-19 creato dal Centro Nazionale di Epidemiologia e Microbiologia Gamaleya in Russia. Il vaccino è stato autorizzato per l'uso dal Ministero della Salute russo nell'agosto 2020, più di un mese prima che i risultati delle fasi uno e due delle sperimentazioni fossero pubblicati e prima che la fase tre della sperimentazione fosse iniziata.

It was the first COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in any nation and has since been authorised for use in around 69 countries worldwide. However, it is not yet approved for use in the UK or the USA. In October 2021, the WHO said the Sputnik V vaccino had not yet been approved for emergency use because of missing data and legal procedures. Earlier this year, le prove di fase uno for a single-dose vaccine called Sputnik Light began.

Sinovac e Sinopharm

La società biofarmaceutica cinese Sinovac è dietro il vaccino CoronaVac. Nell'aprile 2020 sono iniziati i test di fase uno sugli adulti. A fine agosto 2020, la Cina ha approvato CoronaVac per l'uso di emergenza per vaccinare gruppi ad alto rischio come il personale medico. Nel febbraio 2021, la Cina ha approvato CoronaVac per l'uso generale negli adulti e successivamente nei bambini. L'OMS ha convalidato il vaccino Sinovac-CoronaVac per l'uso di emergenza a giugno.

Ad aprile 2020, sono stati approvati i test clinici per il vaccino Sinopharm, prodotto da un'azienda statale cinese. È stato convalidato per l'uso negli adulti in Cina a dicembre 2020 e nei bambini nell'estate del 2021.

Efficacia della variante Delta

Una delle maggiori preoccupazioni per gli scienziati è stata che i vaccini COVID-19 sarebbero stati meno efficaci se il virus fosse mutato significativamente. Tutti sono stati sviluppati contro la variante originale del coronavirus. Da allora abbiamo avuto le varianti Alpha e Beta e ora la variante Delta, che è quasi la causa universale di infezione nel Regno Unito.

Reassuringly, research suggests that while vaccines offer less protection against infection with the Delta variant than with other COVID-19 strains, both the AstraZeneca and the Pfizer vaccine continue to provide excellent protection against severe illness, with riduzioni dei ricoveri ospedalieri del 92% e del 96% rispettivamente after two doses.

Il livello di protezione fornito dai vaccini COVID-19 contro la nuova variante Omicron è oggetto di indagine con urgenza. Dovrebbe richiedere solo poche settimane per avere un'idea se le persone vaccinate producono livelli ragionevoli di 'anticorpi neutralizzanti' - in altre parole, se gli anticorpi che producono sono in grado di proteggere contro infezioni gravi.

Various medications are being used to treat COVID-19.

Desametasone

Il desametasone, uno steroide, è un medicinale usato per trattare una vasta gamma di condizioni di salute, da gravi condizioni della pelle a croup e condizioni autoimmuni. Tuttavia, viene utilizzato negli ospedali come trattamento per i casi gravi di COVID-19.

A UK studio published in 2020 found dexamethasone reduced death by up to a third in hospitalised patients with severe respiratory complications as a result of COVID-19 infection. Earlier this year, figures published by NHS England showed that use of the drug had saved 22,000 lives in the UK and an estimated one million worldwide.

Molnupiravir

Molnupiravir, developed by the US drug companies Merck, Sharp & Dohme and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, is an antiviral medication used to treat people infected with COVID-19. The drug was approved for medical use in the UK in November 2021 after uno studio ha dimostrato it reduced the risk of hospitalisation or death by about half among people at risk of severe illness.

On 26th November, the company ha ridotto la sua stima of its effectiveness against hospitalisation or death to 30% after full results of the study became available. Nonetheless, it still prevented one person from being hospitalised or dying for every 33 people treated.

The tablet will be given twice a day to patients recently diagnosed with the disease who have at least one risk factor, such as malattie cardiache, obesità or being over the age of 60. In clinical trials the pill, originally developed to treat influenza, ha dimezzato il rischio di ospedalizzazione o morte.

Paxlovid

In November 2021, Pfizer hanno riferito that its antiviral drug reduced the risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19 by 89%. In the company's study, the drug was given to vulnerable participants who were non vaccinati and experiencing mild to moderate symptoms of the disease. Pfizer is now seeking approval to distribute the medication in the USA.

Monoclonal antibodies trigger the sistema immunitario to attack a virus. They are man-made proteins that act like human antibodies in the immune system.

Ronapreve

In August 2021, the UK's drug regulator approved the first monoclonal antibody treatment - Ronapreve, a combination of the two drugs casirivimab and imdevimab - for the Le linee guida attuali per il trattamento raccomandano and prevention of acute COVID-19 in adults.

The COVID-19 drug is administered by injection or drip infusion and is approved for medical use in Japan, the UK, the EU and Australia. One studio found one-off treatment with Ronapreve in COVID-19 patients with at least one risk factor reduced the outcome of death by around 70%.

Il trial Recovery del Regno Unito tested Ronapreve across 9,785 patients hospitalised with COVID-19, with some receiving standard care and some standard care as well as the drug. Among patients who hadn't mounted their own antibody response to the virus, the drug cut deaths by a fifth.

Regkirona

Regdanvimab, sold under the name Regkirona, is a human monoclonal antibody used for the treatment of COVID-19. Regdanvimab è stato approvato per uso medico nell'UE a novembre 2021.