Vaccine light flashes positive to end COVID’s global terror reign
Company that gave the world Viagra, now poised to raise the flagging hopes of billions with anti-coronavirus jab
On the day the Lankan Government flung open the gates on a locked-up people and freed them to run the risk of the coronavirus gauntlet in a health guidelines bubble, thousands of miles away in Manhattan, New York, US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer was announcing the news the world would have gladly given an arm and a leg to hear.
The drug maker declared that ‘an early analysis of its coronavirus vaccine trial suggested the vaccine was robustly effective in preventing Covid19.’ Pfizer said that that the analysis found that the vaccine was more than 90 percent effective in preventing the disease among trial volunteers. If the results hold up, that level of protection would put it on par with highly effective childhood vaccines for diseases such as measles. The company also said, no serious safety concerns have been observed.
The news does not mean that the vaccine has been perfected and is ready for use and that Santa will have it in his gift sack come Christmas. But the very news that a vaccine is close at hand to end this terrible siege of terror the coronavirus has laid on the world’s doorstep was akin to a flash shower of rain to a parched soul wandering lost and hapless in the dusty deserts of the Sahara.
As is often said, there’s many a slip between the cup and the lip and the Pfizer vaccine is no exception, with many a snag between the present brag and the immunizing jab.
One of the first snags is that no one really knows or can tell for how long the protection will last. Or despite the company’s present assurance, whether there will be serious side effects. Another problem is storage. Wide distribution of the vaccine will be a logistic challenge since, due to its structure, the doses need to be stored in ultra-cold temperatures in the range of minus 70 degrees Celsius. While Pfizer has developed a special cooler to transport the vaccine, equipped with GPSenabled thermal sensors, it remains unclear where people will receive the shots, and what roles governments will play in distribution.
Then, of course, there is the question of price. Right at the outset, Pfizer has made it unequivocally clear that it’s no charity outfit, in service to humanity but will treat the vaccine as a commercial opportunity. Having turned down research and development funding money from the US Government, under its vaccine scheme ‘Operation Warped Speed’ and having spent almost $2 billion of its own money, Pfizer’s stance is that it is not beholden to the Government in anyway. The company that made billions of dollars producing Viagra, Pfizer’s CEO Dr. Bourla says ‘there a lot at stake for humanity’ but has no intention of giving it away free.
If that be the case, it may prove more difficult for cash strapped nations like Lanka to be able to afford the Pfizer panacea for the pandemic.
The other reason that may well delay Lankans getting it is the long queue to Pfizer’s door. It is reported, Britain has already got a foot in with a 40 million vaccine order. Though Health Minister Pavithra stated this week that WHO has reserved for 20 percent of Lanka’s populace vaccines still in the making in China or Russia or America, it certainly will not be the almost finished Pfizer product – at least not for a long time. Widespread distribution is not expected till the middle of next year.
And the possible price? Britain’s Guardian has reported Pfizer’s two shot vaccine will cost $39. Accordingly, to make all its citizens COVID proof will cost the Lankan Government approximately 160 billion rupees. At the end of the vaccine’s still unknown protection period, another round of 160 billion will be called for.
The advice down the pipeline is, celebrate the new born star of hope flickering in the sky but, for god sake, don’t throw away your mask just yet.