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Health experts are worried about whether coronavirus vaccines under development will adequately protect the elderly, sparking efforts to make sure there are shots that can help the vulnerable group. Older adults are especially susceptible to infection by the virus, and at higher risk of falling critically ill and dying, at least partly because their immune systems have lost strength with age. Public-health officials and scientists are concerned that a weakened immune system could also limit the effectiveness of a coronavirus vaccine, just as it has sapped the power of other shots in older people. (Hopkins, 6/21)

On a day in mid-March — as the pandemic began to grip the world — a box from Oxford University arrived at a lab south of Rome. In it, packed with dry ice, were several tiny vials. Each one held a few drops of “seed stock,” a starter kit for the production of a potential vaccine for the novel coronavirus. The company’s job was to turn a few droplets into an amount large enough for 13,000 people — a sufficient quantity to perform ­large-scale trials unfolding on several continents. (Harlan and Pitrelli, 6/20)

Since the onset of the coronavirus outbreak, a vaccine has been widely regarded as the best path toward reopening society and returning to normalcy. Scientists have worked around-the-clock to develop a vaccine even entering late-stage human studies at record speed for the disease that has killed more than 430,000 people worldwide. Yet, despite these Herculean efforts, scientists say a one-time cure-all is unlikely. (Nunez, 6/19)

Chinese researchers have started a second phase human trial of a possible coronavirus vaccine, the Institute of Medical Biology at Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (IMBCAMS) said on Sunday, in efforts to further assess effectiveness and safety. About a dozen vaccines are in different stages of human tests globally, as the World Health Organization warns the coronavirus pandemic is accelerating and “the world is in a new and dangerous phase.” (6/21)