WHO is working on a framework allocation of a potential coronavirus vaccine

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently set out certain recommendations as to how a potential coronavirus vaccine should be deployed in case one is developed this year. The organization is currently working on a strategy for vaccine allocation, stating that the framework will not, however, be binding.

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, a leading scientist at WHO, said that around two billion corona vaccines should be available to risk groups among the world’s population at the end of next year. He said that, should a vaccine be developed this year, the World Health Organization recommends vaccinating the elderly and individuals with cardiovascular diseases or diabetes first. Front line workers should also be given priority, as well as employees working in essential services. The WHO hopes hundreds of millions of doses of the coronavirus vaccine can be produced this year and 2 billion doses by the end of 2021.

Dr. Swaminathan said the WHO is currently working on developing an “allocation framework” for how coronavirus vaccines should be given out, but this guidance would not be binding.

“The WHO will propose this approach,” said Swaminathan. “Countries must agree on this. This is the only way we can get it done. “There is no strategy worldwide yet on how to proceed if a vaccine is found against the virus.”

“I’m hopeful, I’m optimistic. But vaccine development is a complex undertaking, it comes with a lot of uncertainty,” stated Dr. Soumya Swaminathan. “The good thing is, we have many vaccines and platforms so, even if the first one fails, or the second ones fails, we shouldn’t lose hope, we shouldn’t give up.”

There are currently 10 potential vaccines which are now undergoing trials in humans. The British-Swedish drug partnership, AstraZeneca/ Oxford University, tops the list with testing of their AZD1222 vaccine currently being rolled out to more than 10,000 adults.

Several countries such as the Netherlands, Great Britain, France and Germany have already made deals with pharmaceutical companies to ensure vaccines for their own population. Britain and the US have invested billions of dollars on various vaccine candidates, most notably the one being developed by Oxford University and manufactured by AstraZeneca. In return, both countries are expected to receive priority treatment; the British government has declared that, if the vaccine proves effective, the first 30 million doses would be provided to the population of Great Britain.

The WHO has called on the pharmaceutical industry to suspend their patent rights for a potential vaccine, so that it is affordable and can be freely shared and used in large numbers. Often, pharma companies apply for patents for nearly every step of a vaccine’s development and production, from the biological material used to the preservative needed to stretch vaccine doses to even how it is administered. So far, several countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada and Germany, are looking into ways to revise their licensing laws to allow the suspension of intellectual property rights if authorities decide there is an overwhelming need for this in view of the pandemic.

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