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WHO says COVID vaccine only in mid-2021, Sri Lanka applies for it
View(s):Sri Lanka is one among 180 countries that have signed up for a COVID-19 vaccine from the World Health Organisation (WHO), but the UN agency has said it won’t be available till the middle of next year.
The vaccine is still in trial stage.
“…We expect doses to begin arriving in countries in the middle of 2021 (second or third quarter),” said Sahani Chandraratne, the WHO’s Health Promotion, and Communications Officer.
Health Minister Pavithra Wanniaarachchi told Parliament earlier that the WHO had informed the Government of a possible vaccine for COVID-19 and the ministry was preparing for it.
“The WHO has advised us to prepare the country for the vaccine. It has not informed us exactly what the injection is. The ministry is preparing for that now,” she said during an adjournment debate on the spread of the pandemic in Sri Lanka. Explaining the current status, the WHO office said, “Phase III trials for some candidate vaccines began in July 2020. We expect that the results from this large-scale trial phase will begin to come in at the end of the year, possibly from the end of November.”
“This would be the minimal data needed for emergency use authorisation. After the data are available, regulatory authorities will need to assess the safety and efficacy, and manufacturing for approved vaccines will begin. Given this timeline, we expect doses to begin arriving in countries in the middle of 2021 (second or third quarter),” the WHO said in response to a query made by the Sunday Times.
A limited number of vaccines may be available for high-risk groups starting from the first quarter of 2021. As these first doses will be limited, we will need to prioritise them for vulnerable groups like health workers and older people, the WHO official said.
COVAX – the largest and most varied portfolio of COVID-19 vaccines globally – is supporting the development of nine candidate vaccines, with several more in the pipeline, the WHO added.
A specially created financial instrument, the COVAX Facility sits within the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator. It is led by The Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the WHO.
“The Act-Accelerator is the only global framework for ensuring the fair and equitable allocation of COVID-19 tools. By the end of next year, the ACT-Accelerator aims to deliver two billion doses of vaccine; 245 million courses of treatment; and 500 million diagnostic tests to low- and middle-income countries,” she said.
| Current COVID clusters set off by new virus strain The current COVID-19 clusters – Minuwangoda, Peliyagoda fish market and Colombo Municipality – have been set off by the same virus strain, Sri Jayewardenepura University scientists have found. This virus strain has the mutation associated with high transmissibility due to high viral loads. The current strain, however, is different to the strains that circulated previously in Sri Lanka, it has been confirmed. The genome sequencing of the virus was carried out by a team headed by Prof. Neelika Malavige, from the Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine and Allergy, Immunology and Cell Biology Unit of the Sri Jayewardenepura University. This current virus strain shows similarities to certain viral strains that originated in Europe earlier. How it made its way to Sri Lanka cannot be determined through sequencing, it is understood. | |