Not Only For COVID-19, Can We Also Have a Vaccine Against All Future Coronaviruses? Is the University of Cambridge Planning to Start Trials of Such Vaccine?

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented crisis that the world wasn’t prepared for. It also enables the best medical minds and researchers toil hard to create a vaccine in the shortest time.

Creating a vaccine for the novel coronavirus is not easy. But the ingenuity from Cambridge University has a completely different task to create a prototype vaccine that can defeat all different types of coronaviruses.

The pandemic COVID-19, SARS-COV-2 is not the only coronavirus known to spread in the human world and it will definitely not be the last. Coronavirus has been disseminating for a long time. Seven types of coronaviruses are known to infect and cause diseases in humans, such as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MERSA (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome). Although we have only just begun to know the severity and impact of COVID-19, the coronavirus causes many respiratory diseases and also carries a related risk of death.

Cambridge University begins a Vaccine Race Against All Future Coronaviruses

Scientists at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom are working hard to design a vaccine that can not only fight against the current virus but also against all future coronaviruses. Clinical trials of the new vaccine for virus treatments did not start before August 28.

The new candidate vaccine DIOS-CoVax2 uses the gene sequence libraries of all recognized coronaviruses, including those from bats, which are considered to be original hosts for various relatives of human corona infections.

DIOS-CoVax2 is expected to be tested in humans later this year. It is the latest vaccine candidate project supported by the British government with a funding of 1.9 million pounds as a part of the collaboration between DIOSynVax, which further donated 400,000 pounds to the vaccine trial, the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHS) and Cambridge University. 

Professor Jonathan Heeney, head of the Laboratory of Viral Zoonotic at Cambridge University and the main researchers involved in the project, said in a statement that the team is confident that vaccines can prevent future surges of infections and epidemics.

3D Computer Modeling of the SARS-CoV-2


Our method involves 3D computer modeling of the SARS-CoV-2 [Covid-19] virus. It uses information about the virus itself and its relatives-SARS, MERS, and other animal-threatening coronaviruses once again spill-over to humans, causes future human epidemics.

Professor Heeney further said his team’s strategy involves targeting the domains of the virus structures that are essential for docking with the cell while avoiding parts that make the situation worse.

His team has formed a library of computer-generated antigen structures encoded by synthetic genes that can train the human immune system to target essential areas of the virus and generate an advantageous antiviral response. These immune responses include neutralizing antibodies that prevent virus infection and T cells that remove virus-infected cells.

This so-called laser-specific computer-generated method can help avoid an undesirable excessive inflammatory immune response that may be triggered by identifying the wrong part of the coronavirus surface.

The professor also commented that although the development of a vaccine against the current virus is a top priority, they hope that the vaccine will provide a good response keeping all coronaviruses at bay.

Ultimately, our goal is to create a vaccine that not only protects against SARS-CoV-2 but also protects other related coronaviruses that may spread from animals to humans.

Researchers around the world are working to find a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts estimate that if the vaccine development process proceeds smoothly from conception to market launch, the rapid vaccine development process may accelerate the launch of successful candidates in about 12-18 months.

Sputnik V: The World’s First Approved Vaccine for COVID-19 Treatment

So far, only one coronavirus vaccine has been approved. Sputnik V (formerly known as Gam-COVID-Vac, developed by the Gamaleya Institute in Moscow) was approved by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation on August 11.

Mikhail Murashko who is Russian Health Minister told reporters on Thursday that the first lot of Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus treatment has been provided to medical institutions within the structure of the third post-registration stage of clinical trials of the preparation.

The world’s first government-approved COVID-19 vaccine has caused unease among several international medical specialists, who claimed that Russia’s rapid endorsement and failure to share any data confirming the vaccine’s efficacy seriously a major breach of scientific agreements.

Given that the vaccine Sputnik V for coronavirus infection has not yet entered stage 3 clinical tests, specialists have aroused great concern about the efficacy and safety of the vaccine.

Scientists around the world say that any widely used vaccine should first be tested in advanced trials involving thousands of people to prove its safety and effectiveness before obtaining a license.

In order to prevent future epidemics or pandemics, we need a smarter vaccine suitable for all age groups and adopt preventive strategies!

 We hope to get Cambridge Vaccine soon, which can help solve the crisis!