The International Vaccine Institute said participation in international efforts is critical to improving the chances of not only developing a vaccine for COVID-19, the …
The International Vaccine Institute said participation in international efforts is critical to improving the chances of not only developing a vaccine for COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, but achieving its equitable distribution.
“There are billions of people in this world who could potentially need a COVID-19 vaccine. If we were to vaccinate all of them, we may need as many as over 10 billion doses,” the institute’s director general, Dr. Jerome H. Kim, told The Korea Herald at his office in Gwanak, Seoul, Wednesday.
“We have to start planning now for the supply and the availability of the vaccines, and think very carefully about the costs.”
In the joint push for a COVID-19 vaccine, the Seoul-based nonprofit organization is working with the Korea National Institute a state medical research center under the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — for clinical trials on vaccine candidates.
“We’re hoping to do it faster, but June 1 is our target for starting clinical trials,” Kim said, explaining that the KNIH will run the assay to determine whether the vaccine generates the right protective immune responses.
The KNIH said last month that the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a nongovernmental organization founded in 2017 for coordinating and financing the development of vaccines for new diseases with pandemic potential, has provided a grant of around 8.4 billion won ($6.86 million) for the research.
Partnerships attained through bodies like the CEPI consolidate global commitment to making the vaccines available to countries that couldn’t otherwise afford it, Kim said.
Given the scale of the pandemic, ensuring some equity in the distribution of the vaccines is something that needs to be figured out, he said.
“Our biggest challenge will be access. I’m convinced that we will have a vaccine. But the question will be how to manufacture them in significant quantities and get the vaccine into the arm of the person who needs it.”
Some 3.2 million people have been reported to be infected with COVID-19 globally, the World Health Organization’s Saturday situation report shows, and 229,971 have died from the disease so far.
Kim said only governments are capable of making the needed interventions to prevent certain players from profiting off the vaccines, and to make sure the vaccines are accessible at a reasonable price.
