22 COVID-19 vaccines now approved: Know how many more are in the pipeline

DUBAI: The most effective way to stop the menace of SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind COVID-19, is not vaccines; rather, it’s vaccination, say experts. Science has already established that safe, effective vaccines are now available. In the midst of a pandemic, they're game-changers in public health. Thankfully, there are now 22 vaccines approved, as of August 24, 2021, according to a vaccine tracker. (This article was first published on July 9, 2021, when 19 vaccines were approved by at least one state authority)

The WHO has so far approved 8 vaccines. But production, distribution and inoculation need to be scaled up to arrest COVID’s further spread and, more importantly, curb the emergence of new variants.

Vaccine tracker

The COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker site provides updates about COVID19 vaccine development and approvals worldwide from publicly available data. If the past is any indication, effective vaccines helped the world tackle the threat of pathogens like polio, measles, smallpox, diphtheria, pertussis, rabies. But effective vaccines are needed in huge quantities: numbers involved in COVID-19 are daunting.

How many vaccines does the world need to produce today to reach “herd immunity”?

Some 30.2 million vaccines must be produced daily. That number would enable the world to achieve “herd immunity” — but only in the next 12 months, according to one calculation.

This run rate is the equivalent of producing 349 vaccines per second. If achieved, it will enable the vaccination of at least 70% of the 7.8 billion people on the planet (with a double dose) against COVID-19 in the next 365 days. That’s a huge challenge: A production output of 20,935 vaccines per minute, according to the online “Max Vaccine Immunity Calculator” drawn up by Omni.

How many vaccines are now approved?

As of July 9, 2021, there are at least 19 vaccines approved by at least one country. Many of the shots had been approved by multiple countries and had been proven effective against SARS-CoV-2 and the latest variants of concern.

What are the vaccines approved by the WHO?

What would it take to increase vaccine volume and supply?

More than 100 countries have called for the temporary suspension of international intellectual intellectual property (IP) rules on COVID-19 countermeasures (including vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and other medical equipment). The WHO strongly backs this call.

The aim is simple: To increase both the volume and the security of the supply, the IP waiver suspension would strengthen legal certainty for producers — allowing them to start manufacturing quickly. This would also expand scientists’ freedom to develop better, more appropriately-adapted vaccines, according to the agency. But the challenge is not just waivers, but manufacrturing hurdles.

And, given the likelihood that coronavirus will be circulating for years to come, experts say a scaled up production would be worthwhile, even if it may take months to bear fruit.

Why is licensing of vaccine manufacturing important?

In short, it’s about revealing the secret sauce of messenger RNA vaccines, which is the exclusive domain of Western companies at the moment — Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna/NIH. The US government under the Biden administration, in principle, has agreed to such waivers under the World Trade Organisation process. But any solid deal would take time. The biggest potential advantage of an IP waiver is scaled up production, wider distribution and lower cost of the most effective COVID shots.

What are some of the examples of global vaccine licensing partnerships?

The AstraZeneca vaccine is one example. It is made by AstraZeneca (as AZD1222), as well as Serum Institute of India (CoviShield), South Korea’s SK Bioscience or Thailand’s Siam Bioscience. AZD1222, was co-invented by the University of Oxford and its spin-off company, Vaccitech.

The UAE is also producing Hayat COVID-19 vaccine under license from China’s Sinopharm CNBG. Public health officials, particularly in less developed economies, have now realised the need to boost and diversify vaccine production capacity — in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

That’s why calls for the technology transfer and ensuring that intellectual property (IP) protections such as patents do not pose legal barriers to mass production are getting stronger.

What are the examples of countries ramping up local COVID-19 vaccine production?

In May 2021, the UAE became the first Arab country in the world to produce its own COVID-19 shot. Known as Hayat vaccine, it is the first indigenous coronavirus jab in the region to be manufactured by a joint venture between Abu Dhabi's G42 and Sinopharm.

India, South Korea, Thailand and Morocco are also some of the countries with their own domestic vaccine manufacturing capacity. Israel is also reportedly weighing opening of COVID-19 vaccine production plant, as its government has realised the dramatic effect of the ability to self-produce vaccines.

What are the known curbs to scaling up vaccine production worldwide?

Restrictions on exports of both raw materials and finished vaccines from key vaccine-producing regions, including the United States, Europe, and India, have exacerbated shortages worldwide and highlighted the risks of relying on just a few manufacturers.

How far are we from vaccinating 70% of the world, enough to achieve “herd immunity”?

In the race against time, there are encouraging signs. But there are also massive challenges in terms of what public health officials call “vaccine equity”. Today, 25% of the world population has already received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to Our World in Data, a data analytics company based in the UK which updates its stats daily. However, only 1% of people in low-income countries have received at least 1 dose.

“The impact of vaccination on the health of the world’s peoples is hard to exaggerate. With the exception of safe water, no other modality has had such a major effect on mortality reduction and population growth,” experts wrote in a paper published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology on July 14, 2020.

What needs to be done, going forward?

Experts say there’s still much to be done to ensure the financing, provision, distribution, and administration of vaccines to all populations — in particular those which are difficult to reach, including those skeptical about their protective value and those living in civil disruption. This has been demonstrated by the latest coronavirus pandemic.

What are the leading agencies working on making vaccines more equitable?

Agencies including the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Initiative (CEPI), with their multiple funding streams have been instrumental in expanding vaccine access Given the pandemic’s knock-on effect on the economy, the importance of these organisations in the global co-operation and participation was essential in the response to SARS-CoV-2, especially for middle and low-income countries.

What's  the effect of effective vaccination?

Vaccinations is now seen as the only way out of the pandemic. The science, developing vaccines and measuring their effectiveness, has been established. Scientists now call for near-term situation, by urging countries that share vaccines with those facing shortages, a move that can save the lives of frontline workers and vulnerable groups.

This, they argued, will help end the pandemic and at the same time reduce the risk of emergence of new and dangerous variants, while generating an additional $9 trillion for the global economy with trade, travel, and work fully restored everywhere.