Aspects of vaccine distribution

Context: Aspects of vaccine distribution.

Background

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the COVID-19 a pandemic in march 2020 and the most optimistic prediction for a vaccine to be available was by the middle of 2021.
• Now, the labs around the world are working faster than anticipated and the first vials of a vaccine are likely to roll out in the next two months.

Why stakes in a vaccine against COVID-19 are unprecedented?

• Though, Economies have gradually opened up after lockdowns, festivals have been celebrated in a subdued manner, and polls have been conducted in several countries.
• But it’s the vaccine that can set us free, can give back the human freedom of association, and most importantly, it can relieve the anxiety and worry that has become the part of life in large parts of the planet.

How early research in Corona virus family is helping now?

• The epidemics caused by pathogens of the coronavirus family in the past 20 years, SARS and MERS, have pushed scientists to study the varied interactions between the human immune system and contagions.
• These studies have illustrated that, unlike other flu viruses, coronaviruses make use of various biological pathways in the human body. For example-opting enzymes of the host’s cells.
• Knowledge of the spike protein has made the scientific community to understand the ways in which the immune system behaves when a person contracts the novel coronavirus.
• The recent approaches targeting the spike protein whether through genetic material as in the case of the vaccines developed by Moderna and Pfizer or through a viral vector from chimpanzees as in the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, have benefitted from earlier research with coronaviruses.

What are the challenges to vaccine distribution?

• India, produces 60 per cent of the world’s vaccines and is home to the largest manufacturer, the Pune-based Serum Institute.
• Yet, the country also has the largest number of unvaccinated children in the world.
• NSO data shows that less than 60 per cent children receive the entire basket of vaccines.
• Delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite availability of vaccination services in more than 90 per cent countries in the world is another hurdle in immunisation programmes.

What is the Way forward?

• Securing 1.3 billion people will require a massive public policy effort at improving the country’s public health infrastructure.
• Partnership with the private sector in immunisation programme.
• Controlling the growth of black markets.
• Checking the diversion of resources from regular immunisation programmes.
• Institute transparent mechanisms at points where science and research meet public policy.

The novel coronavirus forces us to do things differently, it demands a different conception of herd from science and public policy.