By Maheesha Mudugamuwa
While wealthy countries have already pre-ordered the yet-to-be-licensed and much-awaited Covid-19 vaccine, questions are being raised as to whether the Sri Lankan authorities are considering ordering additional stocks apart from the free doses promised by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
According to Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Sri Lanka is set to receive approximately 4.2 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine under the WHO’s COVAX programme once a vaccine is developed.
So far, no vaccine against Covid-19 has been registered under any internationally recognised regulatory authority or even the WHO for that matter, whilst there are numerous Covid vaccines still in development.
German company BioNTech and its US partner Pfizer announced last week that they produced a Covid-19 vaccine. An analysis at its phase three trials showed the Covid-19 vaccine to be 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 infections, the companies stated. Their vaccine has been tested on 43,500 people in six countries and no safety concerns were raised as of Thursday (26).
However, as per reports earlier this month, the companies stated the vaccine was unlikely to be available before the end of the year.
Is it safe?
Some of the vaccines being developed contain the pandemic virus itself in a weakened form. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine uses a harmless virus altered to look a lot more like Sars-CoV-2 – the virus that causes Covid-19.
Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna's vaccines use bits of genetic code to cause an immune response, and are called mRNA vaccines; some Covid jabs contain proteins from the coronavirus.
However, side effects of the vaccines were yet to be discovered by scientists, who are concerned that this kind of early deployment could compromise the ongoing clinical trials that seek to show conclusively how well the vaccines work.
Three vaccine research and development groups – BioNTech and Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford – have released promising preliminary data about their Covid-19 vaccine candidates.
So far, all of these candidates have been safe in trials, and prevented Covid-19 in anywhere between 70% and 95% of trial subjects. Moderna and AstraZeneca plan on submitting their data to regulators for emergency use authorisation imminently; Pfizer and BioNTech already have.
As reported, individual countries and the European Union (EU) have already ordered 2.8 billion doses of these potential vaccines while many countries have also pre-ordered vaccines from other companies, but these aren’t yet in late-stage clinical trials.
Vaccines for Sri Lanka
In such a backdrop, Health Minister Wanniarachchi told Parliament on Wednesday (25) that the country would get the Covid-19 vaccine as soon as the WHO-approved vaccine is made available.
"Sri Lanka has already entered the COVAX programme and ‘Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance’, which are working for a Covid-19 vaccine with the technical help of the WHO,” she said, and drew attention to the vaccine trials being in the third and clinical stage.
[caption id="attachment_79790" align="alignright" width="300"]
"We have established a national co-ordinating committee for the Covid-19 vaccine…The three sub-committees will identify and prioritise target groups for vaccination, maintain the supply chain, and manage cost and implementation" Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi [/caption]
She also added that when a vaccine is created, Sri Lanka will be able to obtain it for 20% of the population in the country in the first stage, which amounts to approximately 4.2 million Sri Lankans.
State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC) Chairman neurosurgeon Dr. Prasanna Gunasena recently confirmed this, stating the WHO consignment will be brought to Sri Lanka in three phases, each phase containing approximately 1.4 million vaccines.
He added that if Sri Lanka joins the list of countries any later, it will take longer for us to receive the vaccine.
Recently, a delegation from Sri Lanka headed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Health held discussions with the Asian Regional Representatives of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation), the WHO, and the World Bank, where it was agreed to take steps to provide a consignment of the vaccine to Sri Lanka as soon as it is approved by the WHO.
In the meantime, Wanniarachchi stated that the Health Ministry has already put in place the operational structure to implement a Covid vaccination programme after a vaccine is released to Sri Lanka.
“We have established a national co-ordinating committee for the Covid-19 vaccine, under which three technical subcommittees have been appointed. The three subcommittees will identify and prioritise target groups for vaccination, maintain the supply chain, and manage cost and implementation,” the Minister said.
‘Citizens not guinea pigs’
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa criticised this move, saying that the citizens of Sri Lanka cannot be used as guinea pigs to test these vaccines.
He added that these vaccines must first be tested and once approved, can be given to the people.
He concluded by saying that the Opposition is strongly against Sri Lanka being used as a testing ground for vaccines produced by international companies.
However, as learnt by The Sunday Morning, the availability of the vaccines, apart from what the WHO will provide to Sri Lanka, is still in question, as the committee appointed is yet to submit the report to the Minister.
Many local health experts are of the view that taking precautions against Covid-19 is the best way to stop the spread of the virus, as the vaccine was still a distant possibility.
Attempts to reach the Health Ministry Secretary, Health Services Director General Dr. Asela Gunawardena, and Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera for comment proved futile.
What COVAX offers
According to Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Sri Lanka is set to receive approximately 4.2 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine under the WHO’s COVAX programme once a vaccine is developed.
So far, no vaccine against Covid-19 has been registered under any internationally recognised regulatory authority or even the WHO for that matter, whilst there are numerous Covid vaccines still in development.
German company BioNTech and its US partner Pfizer announced last week that they produced a Covid-19 vaccine. An analysis at its phase three trials showed the Covid-19 vaccine to be 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 infections, the companies stated. Their vaccine has been tested on 43,500 people in six countries and no safety concerns were raised as of Thursday (26).
However, as per reports earlier this month, the companies stated the vaccine was unlikely to be available before the end of the year.
Is it safe?
Some of the vaccines being developed contain the pandemic virus itself in a weakened form. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine uses a harmless virus altered to look a lot more like Sars-CoV-2 – the virus that causes Covid-19.
Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna's vaccines use bits of genetic code to cause an immune response, and are called mRNA vaccines; some Covid jabs contain proteins from the coronavirus.
However, side effects of the vaccines were yet to be discovered by scientists, who are concerned that this kind of early deployment could compromise the ongoing clinical trials that seek to show conclusively how well the vaccines work.
Three vaccine research and development groups – BioNTech and Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford – have released promising preliminary data about their Covid-19 vaccine candidates.
So far, all of these candidates have been safe in trials, and prevented Covid-19 in anywhere between 70% and 95% of trial subjects. Moderna and AstraZeneca plan on submitting their data to regulators for emergency use authorisation imminently; Pfizer and BioNTech already have.
As reported, individual countries and the European Union (EU) have already ordered 2.8 billion doses of these potential vaccines while many countries have also pre-ordered vaccines from other companies, but these aren’t yet in late-stage clinical trials.
Vaccines for Sri Lanka
In such a backdrop, Health Minister Wanniarachchi told Parliament on Wednesday (25) that the country would get the Covid-19 vaccine as soon as the WHO-approved vaccine is made available.
"Sri Lanka has already entered the COVAX programme and ‘Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance’, which are working for a Covid-19 vaccine with the technical help of the WHO,” she said, and drew attention to the vaccine trials being in the third and clinical stage.
[caption id="attachment_79790" align="alignright" width="300"] "We have established a national co-ordinating committee for the Covid-19 vaccine…The three sub-committees will identify and prioritise target groups for vaccination, maintain the supply chain, and manage cost and implementation" Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi [/caption]
She also added that when a vaccine is created, Sri Lanka will be able to obtain it for 20% of the population in the country in the first stage, which amounts to approximately 4.2 million Sri Lankans.
State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC) Chairman neurosurgeon Dr. Prasanna Gunasena recently confirmed this, stating the WHO consignment will be brought to Sri Lanka in three phases, each phase containing approximately 1.4 million vaccines.
He added that if Sri Lanka joins the list of countries any later, it will take longer for us to receive the vaccine.
Recently, a delegation from Sri Lanka headed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Health held discussions with the Asian Regional Representatives of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation), the WHO, and the World Bank, where it was agreed to take steps to provide a consignment of the vaccine to Sri Lanka as soon as it is approved by the WHO.
In the meantime, Wanniarachchi stated that the Health Ministry has already put in place the operational structure to implement a Covid vaccination programme after a vaccine is released to Sri Lanka.
“We have established a national co-ordinating committee for the Covid-19 vaccine, under which three technical subcommittees have been appointed. The three subcommittees will identify and prioritise target groups for vaccination, maintain the supply chain, and manage cost and implementation,” the Minister said.
‘Citizens not guinea pigs’
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa criticised this move, saying that the citizens of Sri Lanka cannot be used as guinea pigs to test these vaccines.
He added that these vaccines must first be tested and once approved, can be given to the people.
He concluded by saying that the Opposition is strongly against Sri Lanka being used as a testing ground for vaccines produced by international companies.
However, as learnt by The Sunday Morning, the availability of the vaccines, apart from what the WHO will provide to Sri Lanka, is still in question, as the committee appointed is yet to submit the report to the Minister.
Many local health experts are of the view that taking precautions against Covid-19 is the best way to stop the spread of the virus, as the vaccine was still a distant possibility.
Attempts to reach the Health Ministry Secretary, Health Services Director General Dr. Asela Gunawardena, and Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera for comment proved futile.
What COVAX offers
- Doses for at least 20% of countries' populations
- Diverse and actively managed portfolio of vaccines
- Vaccines delivered as soon as they are available
- End the acute phase of the pandemic
- Rebuild economies