Cambodia, WHO and the COVID-19 vaccine conundrum – when will COVID-19 vaccines be ready for distribution?

18/12/2020 | 10:07:39 PM

WHO has announced that the first COVID-19 vaccines are beginning to be introduced in countries.

However, before COVID-19 vaccines can be delivered, there are several protocols which must be adhered to. They are:

The vaccines must be proven safe and effective in large (phase III) clinical trials. Some large clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine candidates have reported encouraging preliminary results, and many other potential vaccines are being developed.

A series of independent reviews of the efficacy and safety evidence is required, including regulatory review and approval in the country where the vaccine is manufactured, before WHO considers a vaccine product for prequalification. Part of this process also involves the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety.

In addition to review of the data for regulatory purposes, the evidence must also be reviewed for the purpose of policy recommendations on how the vaccines should be used.

An external panel of experts convened by WHO, called the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE), analyzes the results from clinical trials, along with evidence on the disease, age groups affected, risk factors for disease, and other information. The panel then recommends whether and how the vaccines should be used.

Officials in individual countries decide whether to approve the vaccines for national use and develop policies for how to use the vaccines in their country based on the WHO recommendations.

The vaccines must be manufactured in large quantities, which is a major and unprecedented challenge – all the while continuing to produce all the other important life-saving vaccines already in use.

As a final step, all approved vaccines will require distribution through a complex logistical process, with rigorous stock management and temperature control.

WHO is working with partners around the world to accelerate every step of this process, while also ensuring the highest safety standards are met.

There are currently more than 50 COVID-19 vaccine candidates in trials. WHO is working in collaboration with scientists, business, and global health organisations through the ACT Accelerator to speed up the pandemic response.

When a safe and effective vaccine is found, COVAX (led by WHO, GAVI and CEPI) will facilitate the equitable access and distribution of these vaccines to protect people in all countries. People most at risk will be prioritised.

In the case of Cambodia, Prime Minister Hun Sen’s assertion that the country will not be allowed to be used as a dumping ground for vaccines, has been manipulated and misrepresented to mean Chinese vaccines.

However, the fact that he had ordered the construction of a storage facility which can store vaccines up to -80 degrees C has been lost by the detractors.

As of now, no COVID-19 vaccines have been approved by the WHO and there are hardly any literature to state that WHO is evaluating any either, except that some have been approved for emergency usage in individual countries.

The COVAX Facility is the global procurement mechanism of COVAX. The COVAX Facility will make investments across a broad portfolio of promising vaccine candidates (including those being supported by CEPI) to make sure at-risk investment in manufacturing happens now.

This means the COVAX Facility, by pooling purchasing power from all countries that participate, will have rapid access to doses of safe and effective vaccines as soon as they receive regulatory approval. Guided by an allocation framework being developed by WHO, the COVAX Facility will then equitably distribute these doses to help protect the most at-risk groups in all participating countries. WHO

 

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