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The COVID-19 vaccines developed by Sinovac in Beijing, September 24, 2020. /CFP
Vaccine developers and academicians called for further international collaboration and to set up designated institutions to streamline vaccine production and distribution worldwide, providing vaccine access to more people in developing countries. They convened at an online panel held by China Development Forum on Saturday.
Stefan Oschmann, CEO of Merck Group, praised the joined effort people have made to fight the pandemic.
"We've seen unprecedented collaboration in [the] science community worldwide," he said.
Vaccine development is a highly complex process which usually takes decades to get ready to produce, let alone vaccines that use new technologies. According to Oschmann, the COVID-19 vaccine development started immediately when the COVID-19 sequence was shared in January 2020.
Oschmann said without compromising quality, the quick rollout of the vaccines is a result of the scientists, developers and regulators all working together amid a global urgency.
"Government, international organizations, businesses and NGOs all bring different know-how to tackle the challenges of the vaccine development and allocations," he said.
Oschmann called for "strong international institutions to guide global efforts to the right direction." The international institutions need to monitor the vaccine development, academic development as well as ensure the vaccine allocation for the countries, he said.
In terms of collaboration, Leif Johansson, chairman of AstraZeneca, said the company has transferred the technology to Chinese pharmaceutical company BioKangtai so they can lead the RD, manufacturing and supply of the vaccine. They have teamed up with Chinese biologics technology provider WuXi Biologics to manufacture the drug substance, which is the active ingredient of the vaccine.
"This partnership is of global significance as it aims to provide enough drug substance for half of our COVAX supply," said Johansson.
AstraZeneca is one of the earliest to join the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) Facility, where the company has provided the vaccine to over 40 developing countries. Johansson said the company aims to supply 230 million doses to 142 countries.
He also applauded China's early move to join COVAX in October and donated millions of vaccines to developing countries. "For many of these, Chinese vaccines were the earliest available."
China has been an advocate for equitable vaccine distribution around the globe for a long time. According to the data, China has donated or is donating COVID-19 vaccines to 69 developing countries in urgent need and is exporting vaccines to 43 countries as of early March. China also has donated vaccines to peacekeepers of various countries in response to a UN appeal.
Johansson called on "international institutions as leaders come together for the next pandemic."
A novel vaccination plan to reach "herd immunity"
As the idea of herd immunity has become familiar to many people, Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, has brought up the ideal scientific way to achieve the goal amid the unbalanced vaccine distribution and allocation worldwide.
Herd immunity, which means a vast majority of a country's population or a community is protected against a disease when the vaccination rate reaches 70-80 percent.
"If a country only hits a 10 percent or 30 percent vaccination rate, the protection of the country cannot be formed," Wu said.
Herd immunity can only work under circumstances where all the countries have an equal capability to develop, produce and distribute enough vaccines. However, the reality is dozens of developing countries lack of such capability and the vaccines are still in short supply.
Under such situation, the best way to do it is to have one country reach a 70 percent vaccination rate in a quick manner then move to the next, Wu said. "That's the scientific and effective way to vaccinate the world's population."
