Jahnavi Sarma
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Written By: Jahnavi Sarma | Published : June 27, 2020 3:57 PM IST
पटना एम्स में आज से शुरू होगा COVAXIN का ह्यूमन ट्रायल
According to the World Health Organisation, scientists are hopeful that the world may have a COVID-19 vaccine within one year or even a few months earlier. The premier health organization made his statement while underlining the importance of global cooperation to develop, manufacture and distribute vaccines. However, making the vaccine available and distributing it to all will be a challenge and it also requires political will, says WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. One option would be to give the vaccine only to those that are most vulnerable to the virus, he added.
There are currently many COVID -19 vaccine candidates in various stages of development. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of global solidarity and health should not be seen as a cost but an investment. The WHO chief also said that all countries in the world must strengthen primary health care and crisis preparedness and stressed the need for EU leadership globally.
While the Director-General said the situation in the EU has improved significantly, he underlined that COVID -19 is very much still circulating globally, with more than four million new cases in the last month. Many Members of the European Parliament said that the global community must cooperate including in developing, manufacturing and distributing vaccines against COVID-19 and asked when a safe vaccine could be available. Several Members of European Parliament underlined the importance of the WHO but also said it has made mistakes in its response to the pandemic.
The Director-General admitted everyone makes mistakes and informed the members that an independent panel will evaluate the WHO response to the pandemic to learn from any mistakes made. It will start its work soon, he said.
Meanwhile World Health Organization chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan said in a virtual media conference that commitments from high-income and upper-middle-income countries is necessary to procure 950 million doses through the COVAX Facility and to ensure that vaccines can be delivered at the greatest possible speed. Developing a vaccine against COVID-19 is currently the most pressing challenge the world faces, and such an enterprise may require funding of up to $18.1 billion to deliver two billion doses by the end of 2021.
According to Swaminathan, over 200 vaccine candidates are at different stages of development and 15 are in human clinical trials. There is a hope that vaccines will be ready in 12 -18 months. AstraZeneca has the largest global commitment and was the leading candidate in terms of timing. While Phase 2 trials are going on, there are plans to start Phase 3 trials soon. Moderna also has plans to start Phase 3 trials by mid-July.
The University of Oxford and AstraZeneca's experimental vaccine is the first to enter the final stages of clinical trials. Trials are going on in South Africa and Brazil, with Serum Institute of India investing $100 million to mass produce one billion doses for India and other low- and middle- income countries.
(With inputs from IANS)
