Cristina Hodgson
THE first Spanish prototypes of a vaccine against COVID-19 will be ready before the end of this year, Spanish scientists have revealed.
Luis Enjuanes, who heads the coronavirus laboratory at the National Biotechnology Centre of the Spanish National Research Council (CNB-CSIC), said this Sunday that the first prototypes will be ready if they win the approval of drug regulators in time.
However that is more likely to happen in the first or second quarter of 2021.
But Enjuanes did not rule out the possibility that regulators will authorise doses in people who are more exposed to contracting the virus, such as health professionals.
According to Enjuanes, there are currently seven models of vaccines in phase 3, the stage in which clinical trials are carried out on humans.
The Minister of Science and Innovation, Pedro Duque, has also expressed his optimism with the advance of the Spanish vaccine.
Duque said that it was fundamental to continue with the development of a Spanish vaccine and to continue promoting vaccine creation projects in Spain.
“This will help the country produce the doses that are necessary for its citizens in the event that there are problems with distribution or negotiations with other suppliers,” he said.
According to EU sources, the first vaccine from the British company AstraZeneca, which works together with Oxford University, will be on the market in November
The EU already has a contract that will guarantee access to at least 300 million doses of this vaccine.
