India and the COVID-19 vaccine

ABSTRACT

The recent article “Exploring the COVID-19 vaccine candidates against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants: where do we stand and where do we go?” published on December 2 is thought provoking. The authors highlight critical disparities in the manufacture and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines although over 350 COVID-19 vaccine candidates are reported to be in the preclinical and clinical development phase. The history of vaccine research and production in India is as ancient as the history of vaccines themselves. Interestingly, vaccine manufacture that was once monopolized by India, declined in its productivity and stature, primarily for the lack of a strategic vision. The recent approval of COVAXIN, designed and developed in India, for emergency use by the World Health Organization is significant for a huge and diverse developing country such as India, especially to transform a weak regulatory system, and enhance public trust.

KEYWORDS:

• Vaccine
• India
• public trust
• regulatory system
• participation

Dear Editor

Thank you for the interesting and informative article “Exploring the COVID-19 vaccine candidates against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants: where do we stand and where do we go? Human Vaccines Immunotherapeutics 2021 Dec 2”.¹ COVID-19 infected over 300 million people, and resulted in over 5.5 million deaths.² Comparatively, India recorded 13% of the total global active cases and 9% of the world mortality.³ The rapid infectivity of the severe acute respiratory syndrome virus (SARS-CoV-2), eroded healthcare resources, and caused a global public health crisis.⁴ The authors highlight critical disparities in the manufacture and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines although over 350 COVID-19 vaccine candidates are reported to be in the preclinical and clinical development phase.¹ The history of vaccine research and production in India is as ancient as the history of vaccines themselves. The British rulers in India established more than a dozen vaccine research institutes in the year 1890, concerned by a large number of British dying from tropical diseases.⁵ Interestingly, vaccine manufacture that was once monopolized by India, declined in productivity, and experienced erosion in the global market share, primarily for the lack of a strategic vision. Additionally, it is interesting to note that drug companies place increasing importance on the use of genomics and informatics to generate customized medicine to cater to different populations. Ironically, the vaccine program assumes a “one vaccine fits all” theory. The recent approval of COVAXIN, designed and developed in India, for emergency use by the World Health Organization is significant for a huge and diverse developing country such as India, especially for vaccine research.⁶ In the light of the WHO approval for COVAXIN, the government of India and the vaccine program in India should invest in generating customized vaccines, especially, to cater to the needs of patients with various comorbidities. It also becomes opportune for the government to weed out a flawed, opaque, and weak regulatory system, to uplift a repeatedly undermined scientific enterprise of India. These measures will, in turn, enhance the confidence of India’s scientists, and the clinical trial participants.

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