The coronavirus outbreak, which was first identified in Wuhan, China and declared a pandemic by World Health Organization on March 11, is continuing to claim the lives of thousands of people across the world.

However, the countries began to ease measures against the coronavirus pandemic, which has been severely affecting the world economy.

The United States, the current epicenter of the pandemic, has the highest number of coronavirus related fatalities with 230,068 deaths, followed by Brazil with 156,926 deaths, India with 118,567 deaths and Mexico with 88,743 deaths.

At least 31,673,006 patients suffering from the disease have so far recovered and been discharged from hospital worldwide.

On the other hand, as of October 2020, there were 321 vaccine candidates in development, a 2.5 fold increase since April.

However, no candidate has completed clinical trials to prove its safety and efficacy.

Some 42 vaccine candidates are now in clinical research: namely 33 in Phase I–II trials and 9 in Phase II–III trials. (ILKHA)