Ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) updates and resources for integrative healthcare professionals

Vaccination and Treatment Tracking

Scientist around the world are racing to produce a safe an effective COVID-19 vaccine. There are currently over 100 vaccine programs underway, with 54 vaccines in clinical trials on humans and 87 preclinical vaccines being tested in animals.

Vaccines typically require years of research and testing, including preclinical testing and multiple safety and efficacy trials before approval. The preclinical phase includes testing a new vaccine on cells and animals such as mice to see if it produces an immune response. Phase 1 assesses its safety in healthy people, phase 2 observes its effect on different cohorts of healthy people, and phase 3 monitors safety and efficacy on a larger scale. The final stage is approval, in which federal regulatory agencies review trial results and determine it is approved or not.

Some of the latest vaccine-related updates include: 

• FDA authorizes vaccine boosters people age 65 and older, and patients at high risk.
• Clover Biopharmaceuticals announces vaccine efficacy results against Delta variant.
• Pfizer says a smaller dose of the vaccine is safe and effective for children ages 5 to 11 years old.
• Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine granted full FDA approval.

Leading Vaccines 

• BioNTech, Pfizer, and Fosun Pharma mRNA vaccine (combined phase 2 and 3): emergency use authorization
• Moderna and National Institutes of Health messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine (phase 3): emergency use authorization
• Gamaleya Research Institute Gam-Covid-Vac vaccine (phase 3): approved for early use in Russia
• AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford (combined phases 2 and 3)
• CanSino Biologics and Academy of Military Medical Sciences adenovirus (Ad5) vaccine (phase 3): approved in China
• Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Johnson & Johnson Adenovirus 26 vaccine (phase 3): emergency use authorization
• Vector Institute vaccine (phase 3): approved for early use in Russia
• Novavax protein-based vaccine (phase 3)
• Sinopharm and Beijing Institute of Biological Products inactivated virus vaccine (phase 3): approved in China, UAE, Bahrain.
• Sinovac Biotech inactivated vaccine (phase 3): approved in China
• Wuhan Institute of Biological Products and Sinopharm inactivated virus vaccine (phase 3): approved for limited use in China and UAE. 
• Bharat Biotech inactivated virus vaccine (phase 3): approved for emergency use in India.  

Click here to track COVID-19 vaccine development in real time.

Guidelines for Vaccinated Individuals 

A person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the last required dose of vaccine. Individuals who have been fully vaccinated can:

• Visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or staying six feet apart.
• Visit with unvaccinated people from one other household indoors without wearing masks or staying six feet apart if everyone in the other household is at low risk for severe disease.
• Refrain from quarantine and testing if they do not have symptoms of COVID-19 after contact with someone who has COVID-19.

The CDC recommends that fully vaccinated people continue to take these COVID-19 precautions when in public, when visiting with unvaccinated people from multiple other households, and when around unvaccinated people who are at high risk of getting severely ill from COVID-19:

• Wear a well-fitted mask.
• Stay at least six feet from people you do not live with.
• Avoid medium- and large-sized in-person gatherings.
• Get tested if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.
• Follow guidance issued by individual employers.
• Follow CDC and health department travel requirements and recommendations.

Treatments

There is no known cure yet for COVID-19. The FDA has approved remdesivir for treatment of COVID-19 in certain situations. Additionally, the FDA has granted emergency use authorization for some treatments. However, further trials are needed to demonstrate widespread safety and effectiveness.

The following is a list of treatments and interventions currently under clinical investigation in order from most promising to least promising:

• Dexamethasone and corticosteroids
• Favipiravir
• MK-4482
• Recombinant ACE-2
• Ivermectin
• Oleandrin
• Convalescent plasma
• Monoclonal antibodies
• Interferons
• Cytokine inhibitors
• Blood filtration systems
• Stem cells
• Anticoagulants
• Vitamin and mineral supplements, including vitamin C, vitamin D, and zinc

Other supportive treatments to help patients with COVID-19 include prone positioning and ventilators and other respiratory support devices.

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