X-Files
2
"India shows why we will all need COVID vaccine booster shots
COVID mutations could spin out of control if situations like that in India continue to occur. Dr Khan explains how boosters will work...
...The mass production of the COVID-19 vaccines has been nothing short of a feat of medical science, and the rollout across many countries has been incredible. But there is a fly in the ointment – two, to be precise: How long does the protection provided by a vaccine last? And, will the vaccines be effective against emerging variants?
The tragic situation unfolding in India is a case in point when it comes to fighting new variants of the coronavirus. India has a population of 1.4 billion and had an excellent start to its vaccination programme. It is also home to one of the biggest manufacturers of vaccines in the world: the Serum Institute of India (SII), which was making and exporting millions of vaccines to other countries as cases were coming down in India.
But due to recent public gatherings, and the early easing of lockdown measures, India has found itself at the epicentre of the pandemic, setting global records for daily cases and deaths. The world has watched in horror as scenes of people struggling to breathe outside hospitals have streamed across news networks.
The SII and the Indian government have now reduced the volume of vaccine being exported from India, but this has come too late as they are also struggling to obtain the raw materials needed for vaccine manufacture from the United States, which is focused on getting its own population vaccinated.
This highlights the problem of Western countries prioritising their own vaccinations while other countries miss out. It also shines a light on holes in the World Health Organization’s plans to get vaccines to poorer countries through its COVAX scheme. As the pandemic unfolds, it is becoming clearer that there are likely to be huge outbreaks in some countries, and a global firefighting approach will most likely be needed. India is one of the world’s fastest growing economies, but the pandemic has brought it to its knees, forced to ask for foreign aid.
The longer the virus is able to run riot in India, the more people it will infect and the more likely it is that further mutations will emerge.
Scientists believe the latest Indian “double mutant” variant exhibit traits that could make it more infectious and less susceptible to vaccine-induced immunity, and we may well see the virus mutate further and in a direction that will make the current batch of vaccines even less effective.
As new variants emerge, therefore, we are likely to need booster shots to maintain our levels of protection or to fight new variants.
COVID mutations could spin out of control if situations like that in India continue to occur. Dr Khan explains how boosters will work...
...The mass production of the COVID-19 vaccines has been nothing short of a feat of medical science, and the rollout across many countries has been incredible. But there is a fly in the ointment – two, to be precise: How long does the protection provided by a vaccine last? And, will the vaccines be effective against emerging variants?
The tragic situation unfolding in India is a case in point when it comes to fighting new variants of the coronavirus. India has a population of 1.4 billion and had an excellent start to its vaccination programme. It is also home to one of the biggest manufacturers of vaccines in the world: the Serum Institute of India (SII), which was making and exporting millions of vaccines to other countries as cases were coming down in India.
But due to recent public gatherings, and the early easing of lockdown measures, India has found itself at the epicentre of the pandemic, setting global records for daily cases and deaths. The world has watched in horror as scenes of people struggling to breathe outside hospitals have streamed across news networks.
The SII and the Indian government have now reduced the volume of vaccine being exported from India, but this has come too late as they are also struggling to obtain the raw materials needed for vaccine manufacture from the United States, which is focused on getting its own population vaccinated.
This highlights the problem of Western countries prioritising their own vaccinations while other countries miss out. It also shines a light on holes in the World Health Organization’s plans to get vaccines to poorer countries through its COVAX scheme. As the pandemic unfolds, it is becoming clearer that there are likely to be huge outbreaks in some countries, and a global firefighting approach will most likely be needed. India is one of the world’s fastest growing economies, but the pandemic has brought it to its knees, forced to ask for foreign aid.
The longer the virus is able to run riot in India, the more people it will infect and the more likely it is that further mutations will emerge.
Scientists believe the latest Indian “double mutant” variant exhibit traits that could make it more infectious and less susceptible to vaccine-induced immunity, and we may well see the virus mutate further and in a direction that will make the current batch of vaccines even less effective.
As new variants emerge, therefore, we are likely to need booster shots to maintain our levels of protection or to fight new variants.