While awaiting a vaccine, don’t forget to protect yourself & avoid the 3Cs, says WHO Rep
With COVID-19 vaccines on the mind of many Sri Lankans, the Sunday Times a s ked the Country Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Sri Lanka, Dr. Razia Pendse for her views.
Q. What is the plan that Sri Lanka should have in place with regard to securing a vaccine if and when one is produced against COVID-19?
A. Phase III trials for some candidate vaccines began in July 2020. We expect that the results from this large-scale trial phase will begin to come in at the end of the year, possibly from end of November. After the data is available, regulatory authorities will need to assess the safety and efficacy and manufacturing for approved vaccines will begin. Given this timeline, we expect doses to begin arriving in countries in the middle of 2021 (second or third quarter). A limited number of vaccines may be available for high- risk groups starting from the first quarter of 2021.
While the country awaits the approval and subsequent delivery of vaccine doses, it is important to have a national plan for the deployment of a COVID- 19 vacc i n e. This includes budgeting/ financing framework, regulatory requirements, prioritization of population groups, health system requirements, mechanisms/platforms for the delivery of vaccines, mechanisms to monitor adverse events following vaccination, and communication strategies for demand generation and to improve community acceptance.
It’s important to remember that a safe and effective COVID- 19 vaccine is still months away and it will be even longer before it is available to a large number of people. That is why it is important to continue using public health tools and measures that we know are effective in preventing the infection and breaking the chain of transmission.
Everyone has the responsibility to protect themselves and others: stay at least one metre away from others, clean your hands regularly, practise respiratory etiquette, wear a mask and stay at home when you feel unwell.
Avoid the 3Cs – crowded places, close contact settings and confined and enclosed spaces. Wherever possible, increase and improve ventilation.
Research by the Sunday Times found that there are 47 candidate vaccines in clinical evaluation, according to the
WHO’s DRAFT landscape of COVID-19 candidate vaccines, with 155 vaccines in pre-clinical evaluation.
The leading candidate vaccines are:
· BNT162b2 vaccine candidate of the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and its German biotechnology company partner BioNTech – A preliminary analysis given in a press release and nothing peer-reviewed suggested the vaccine is more than 90% effective at preventing COVID- 19 symptoms. As it was not from a peer- reviewed source, the authenticity of the 90% was being questioned.
Almost 80% of the limited supply of this two-dose vaccine has been ordered by the United Kingdom, United States of America, European Union, Canada and Japan.
· AZD1222 vaccine candidate of AstraZeneca/ Oxford – Results of its final clinical stages are due before the end of the year.