Coronavirus: 8 candidate vaccines being evaluated - Prof. Alex Dodoo

Director-General of the Ghana Standard Authority, Professor Alex Dodoo, says eight candidate vaccines for treating COVID-19 are being evaluated for its safety and will be ready before the end of 2020.

According to him, two out of the eight vaccines have already begun human trails in different laboratories around the world.

Prof Alex Dodoo who is also a Clinical Pharmacologist and currently serves on a United Nations and World Health Organisation vaccine board said; “There are already vaccines in the works and I am serving on one committee looking at the safety of the vaccine as far as I can say, let's face it, safety is number one and currently most of the vaccines we have I will say we are evaluating the safety without saying too much. There are at least 8 vaccines in different laboratories.”

Explaining the development in an interview on JoyNews Prime on April 16, Prof. Dodoo indicated that the boards will in the next three weeks evaluate the vaccines that will grant permission for further works.

“These are being evaluated and one or two have started human trails but the issue is that you want to be sure they are safe. When you look at their safety it is more complex, are they safe on their own? Are they safe when you add other vaccines? Are they safe under all conditions of use? And who do you give them to. Within the next three weeks, we should conclusively say which ones will go further,” he added.

Globally, drug manufacturer Gilead is set to release a clinical trial data in the next couple of weeks for a potential coronavirus treatment.

The development is expected to be the next big benchmark in the race to produce a drug that will aid in the coronavirus fight.