– says UWI COVID-Task Force, advises persons to take safety measures seriously
By Vishani Ragobeer in Trinidad and Tobago
VACCINES for the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, are being developed at an unprecedented rate. However, Director for the UWI’s Centre for Biosecurity Studies, Dr. Kirk Douglas, highlighted that multiple vaccines may be needed to treat with COVID-19.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), vaccination is a simple, safe, and effective way of protecting against harmful diseases. Vaccines contain only a killed or weakened form of viruses or bacteria (which do not cause the disease or put you at risk for complications) and they train the body’s immune system to create antibodies and build resistance to specific infections.
“Ideally, we would like to see antibodies produced to that vaccine (a COVID-19 vaccine) and (for) it to have a long time in duration, in terms of the antibodies being produced for a long time, but this is not always the case and with COVID-19 and several other respiratory viruses,” Dr. Douglas said, speaking at a recent forum organised by the University of the West Indies’ (UWI’s) COVID-19 Task Force.
He further explained that much like many of the respiratory diseases (like influenza, for example), the immune response (the body’s ability to resist the infection) wanes over time. “And this is what many researchers have seen with COVID-19, with the normal infection,” he said.
It is for this reason he posits that multiple vaccinations and even different types of vaccines- depending on the existing infrastructure within the specific region- may be required to treat with COVID-19. He also posited that a combination of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), therapeutics and those vaccines may be required to varying degrees
PRODUCTION SCALE-UP
Cognisant of the devastating effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on countries all over the world, Dr. Douglas also highlighted that these vaccinations are being developed in various countries at unprecedented rates.
According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the general stages for the development cycle of a vaccine are: the exploratory stage, the preclinical stage, clinical development, regulatory review and approval, manufacturing and quality control. This process takes a number of years.
The Director related that during the development of other vaccines in the years gone by, the manufacturing scale up of vaccines occurred around the time of the clinical phase. However, with COVID-19, he said a “different strategy” was employed; manufacturing development started in tandem, or just after the pre-clinical trials.
“This is well in advance of clinical development,” Dr. Douglas said.
According to the latest reports on the development progress of a COVID-19 vaccine from the WHO, as reported by the Guardian Newspaper, 139 vaccines are in the preclinical phase (that is, not yet in human trials); 25 vaccines are in small-scale safety trials; 15 are in expanded safety trials; and, seven are in large-scale efficacy trials. None of these vaccines have yet been approved for general use.
Across the globe, massive financing has gone into the development of this vaccine. Vaccines are also being developed in the Caribbean, in Cuba.
“Vaccines have historically been proven to be an effective tool in public health,” the doctor said, while advising that persons see it as a help to mitigating the pandemic rather than being fearful of them.
ADMINISTRATION CHALLENGES
Once these vaccines have been approved for use and have been produced, Dr. Douglas foresees that there will be additional challenges to surmount. These include a myriad of administration challenges.
Considerations must be given to whether sufficient quantities of the agent, adjuvant and even packaging materials can be produced, and whether the demand for the COVID-19 vaccine will result in a decline in the production of other vaccines.
Then, there are also concerns for the distribution of vaccines from manufacturers to countries and even the administration by the public health sectors to citizens. There is also the possibility of the emergence of counterfeit products onto the market.
Importantly, he said, “One of the possible mitigation actions and possibly for the future, perhaps the Caribbean may want to look at developing its own research and manufacturing capacity within the region.”
However, the larger ethical consideration, according to him is: If the public is unwilling to have vaccines administered, then what?
Earlier this year, the University of the West Indies (UWI) launched a Task Force to assist with the mobilisation of the region’s public health providers to help mitigate the effects of COVID-19 with a particular focus on research and surveillance. The Centre for Biosecurity Studies, at the Cave Hill campus, is part of this Task Force.
As of August 25, there were about 23.7 million COVID-19 cases worldwide, with more than 814,000 deaths recorded. Guyana recorded 1,029 cases, with 31 deaths.
