Evaluating COVID-19 vaccines on mutant viral strains

While the viral variants and vaccine trials are contesting with each other, Norway based Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has launched a first-of-its-kind collaboration to tackle emergence of new COVID-19 viral strains and evaluate their impact on vaccine candidates in development. Tracking viral mutations and diversity is essential to ensure efficacy of COVID-19 vaccine candidates on mutant virulent strains.

- Hithaishi C Bhaskar

In response to the worldwide health predicament, global vaccine development programme has accelerated several advanced molecular platforms with about 240 vaccines in early stage of development, 44 in clinical trials and 9 already in the final stage of human clinical trials. While the world is eagerly looking forward to a safe and affordable vaccines there arises a concerns around few mutant variants of SARS-CoV-2, pushing vaccine development to paradox and challenging R&D efforts.

To rapidly monitor the emergence of new COVID-19 viral strains and evaluate their impact on vaccine candidates in development, Norway based Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has launched a consortium of Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID), a global science initiative, Public Health England (PHE) and the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) to further strengthen real-time global tracking and testing of SARS-CoV-2 sequences, following recent attention to a mutant strain of the virus casing COVID-19.

GISAID has taken initiative utilising genetic, phenotypical and virological data of SARS-CoV-2 to enable real-time progress in understanding geographical spread, circulation, and evolution of COVID-19. Earlier on January 10, 2020, it was GISAID, which publicly shared the complete SARS-CoV-2 viral genome to make it available for the global R&D purposes. The initiative made available over 200,000 SARS-CoV-2 viral sequences on its publicly accessible platform, creating CEPI genomic diversity report.