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With more than 150 novel coronavirus vaccines in development across the world and a few of them having reached the third stage of trial, hopes are high that one of them could hit the market sooner than expected though many experts are of the opinion that it may take more than a year to develop a vaccine; not to forget the possibility of not finding one at all. Amid this cloud of uncertainty, it is comforting that India’s drug regulator Drug Controller General of India has approved the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) to conduct late-stage human trials (phase II and III) in the country for the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine candidate Covishield which showed promising results in the trials conducted so far and one of the frontrunners. It is reported that more than 30,000 people from across the world will participate in this phase of trial, and 1,600 patients from India too will take part in it.
The participation of India in this global trial is important for more reasons than one. Vaccine development usually takes years together because of several intricacies and processes involved. It has to go through several stages like checking of safety, trials with patients and those having higher risk of contracting the disease, and then mass experiment to ensure safety and effectiveness. This is necessary because immune response can vary between people of different age, ethnicity and health conditions. Then a vaccine has to be approved by the regulatory agencies. After that, it’s about mass manufacturing and distribution, and who should get first. SII’s involvement in the late-stage clinical trial for Oxford’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate will not only fulfil Indian government’s condition to conduct such experiment in the country for any new vaccine before launch, thus facilitating quick production once approved, but also puts the institute ahead in the global race for developing a vaccine against the virus. It will also increase Indian citizens’ chances of getting access to the new drug sooner.
However, India should ensure that people from different parts of the country, including the Northeast are included in the late-stage trial of the vaccine candidate, as it is conducted mainly to see if it has adverse reactions in different populations. Researchers had in the past cried inadequate representation of different races, minorities and ethnic groups in vaccine development. This issue should not be ignored, especially this time as Covid-19 is relatively new to the world and even a small lapse could derail the efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine. There were instances in the past where vaccines had to be recalled because of adverse reactions. We should also know that there are possibilities of not developing a vaccine for the coronavirus at all or not any time soon, and the fight against the disease could be longer than we think. So, the best defence against the virus in the absence of a vaccine is following the widely circulated preventive measures like maintaining hand hygiene, avoiding physical contact with others and crowds, and wearing of face mask. Can we follow these simple measures? We should.