(Image source from: xinhuanet.com)
With the number of Covid-19 confirmed cases rising every single day, the need for a viable vaccine at this point is a necessity. The global economy is under the risks of the deepest recession that has not been experienced in over a century and people across the world are being advised to stay indoors.
While the governments across the world are fighting a constant battle to combat the spread of the virus, the only conclusive answer to the condition is a vaccine. That is the only source to bring everything back to normal.
The process of vaccine development takes years of research and even then, the chances are failure are high. A normal vaccine takes 5-7 years to be developed but with the crisis that the world is under, it isn’t surprising that laboratories and pharmaceutical companies are working at a quick pace to develop the Covid-19 vaccine.
Even Dr Anthony Fauci, who is heading the coronavirus task force in US said that there are possibilities that the world will have millions of doses of the vaccine by early next year.
According to a tracker, it has been reported that 111 potential vaccines for the novel coronavirus are under development and over 190 treatment options are being tested out.
Out of the 111 potential vaccines, 9 of them are undergoing clinical trials and the rest are still in the pre-clinical testing phase.
Covid-19 Vaccines and Treatment Options
Experts have highlighted the fact that it is hard to predict when the world will have access to the Covid-19 vaccine. They have said that it could take several months before the vaccine is available in the market. Even that is not an assurance at this point.
“However, the Covid-19 vaccine may be a little more complicated since there is not a standard vaccine for a similar type of virus we can update in the way we update the Influenza vaccine [every year]. The timeline can be attributed to the laboratory and human testing that are needed to establish that the vaccine is safe and effective,” Dr Ashley St. John, assistant professor at the Duke-NUS Medical School explained.
Even if the scientists are able to come up with a viable vaccine, it is likely that the manufacturing process for the vaccine will take further time as well.
Dr Jones reported that even if the vaccine does pass through the clinical trials, it is not favourable to scale up the manufacturing process.
Even with the research for the vaccine happening to control the spread of the pandemic globally, there are countries who want to immunize their citizens first.
President Trump has already instigated the “Operation Warp Seed” under which he is planning to get over 300 million doses of the vaccine for the US citizens in the next year.
Adar Poonawala, the CEO of Serum Institute of India, said that it is likely that the majority of the approved and developed vaccine will initially go to the countrymen, following which the export would be done. He further said that he is going to leave the decision of which countries to export to on the Indian government.
While the world is chasing the process of Covid-19 vaccine development, the rush could result in negative impacts, especially for something that takes years to develop.
An unsafe vaccine with no proper trials and constant testing in phases can later jeopardise the entire world’s efforts.
Aside from that, the constant pressure of developing the Covid-19 vaccines is leading to diversion of resources which can in turn affect the healthcare facilities and emergencies across the world.
As of the statistics till Sunday, over 3.5 million people have been infected with the virus across the world and over 248,000 Covid-19 deaths have been registered.
While some countries proactive decisions have been able to control the spread of the virus with strict restrictions on the movement and social distancing measures, the cases have been growing at a rapid pace across the world.
Even World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported that the normal lifestyle of the people is likely going to remain affected until a viable Covid-19 vaccine has been developed.
By Somapika Dutta
