- Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic started spreading its dreaded tentacles to every nook and cranny of the universe, all developed countries expectedly made a beeline to develop an effective vaccine without much ado. Though the characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 is yet to be deciphered fully, few countries have made quite a remarkable advance vis-à-vis developing a vaccine to not only beat the race to the finish but also claim economic windfall expected to accrue out of such record invention.
PC: economist
- As the emerging reports suggest, there are around no less than 30 vaccines are in various human trials and most hearteningly, eight are reportedly in Phase 3 mass trials which forms an inevitable part of the vaccine development protocol. Among the eight leading contenders, three Chinese companies along with India’s as many companies in collaboration with international names too are in the fray. Still, it’s early days for the Indian vaccine to come through as the process enters initial trials.
- Going by the look of things, the earliest and realistic timeframe for vaccines to make presence without foregoing the safety trial aspects is the end of 2020 or early 2021. However, it appears Russia has jumped the guns in claiming bragging rights to winning the international race to roll out a vaccine by reportedly abjuring critical Phase 3 safety trials where thousands of volunteers are typically enrolled to verify the effectiveness of the serum for mass usage.
PC: Livemint
- As is widely known, any vaccine must undergo standard protocol of trials as accepted internationally, widely sharing all relevant safety data, international peer reviews verifying the efficacy of the vaccine, and most importantly, clearing relevant but transparent regulatory oversight for subsequent introduction into the markets. It is extremely doubtful that Russia would have assiduously fulfilled all those mandated regulatory requirements before announcing to the world about their invention.
- It is interesting to note that even smaller and not so rich countries are also in the race making an all-out effort to ensure bigger, richer and stronger nations with every available wherewithal at their disposal do not usurp newly invented vaccine for the benefits of their respective countrymen. Such a trend is most apparent reading into the reports emerging from nations despite low success rates in inventing a new vaccine fuelled by real apprehensions of richer nations hoarding the magical cure.
PC: the conversation
- In such a scenario, it is prudent to expect every single nation to not cut corners by following internationally accepted SOPs, especially undergoing every single trial/testing/validation, before introducing the hugely anticipated vaccine with fanfare. Glorification and nationalism should not come in the way of the safety and well-being of humans as the race keeps heating up in the coming days.
