Coronavirus: Who will get the vaccine first?
If or when scientists succeed in making a coronavirus vaccine, there won't be enough to go around.
Vaccines to fight infectious diseases usually take years to develop, test and deliver. Even then, their success is not guaranteed. Russia says trials of its Sputnik-V vaccine have shown signs of an immune response in patients and mass vaccination will start in October. China says it has developed a successful vaccine that is being made available to its military personnel. But concerns have been raised about the speed at which both vaccines have been produced.
Pfizer and BioNTech, who say they have invested more than $1bn in their Covid-19 programme developing an mRNA vaccine, expect to be ready to seek some form of regulatory approval as early as October this year. "The challenge will be to ensure equitable access - that all countries have access, not just those who can pay more."The WHO is working with the epidemic response group, Cepi, and the Vaccine Alliance of governments and organisations, known as Gavi, to try to level the playing field.known as Covax
Having a wide portfolio of vaccine trials signed up to their programme, they are hoping at least one will be successful so they can deliver two billion doses of safe, effective vaccines by the end of 2021. The Serum Institute of India , the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, is being backed by $150m from Gavi and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to make and deliver up to 100 million doses of the successful Covid-19 vaccines for India and low- and middle-income countries. They say the ceiling price will be $3 a dose.In the UK, mass distribution will be via the NHS health service.
As more vaccine is produced, allocation is increased to cover 20% of the population - this time prioritising over 65s and other vulnerable groups. The ideal vaccine has a lot to live up to. It needs to be affordable. It needs to generate strong, long-lasting immunity. It needs a simple refrigerated distribution system and manufacturers must be able to scale-up production rapidly.
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