Scientists optimistic on making COVID-19 vaccines affordable, equitable despite challenges

The world’s top scientists on the development of COVID-19 vaccines on Friday expressed optimism about and confidence in having affordable vaccines with equitable access to all despite challenges regarding funding, purchasing, distribution as well as information.

“I’m very optimistic and also confident that if we continue to mobilize everyone who is a stakeholder in vaccine development and distribution, we will make that happen,” said Oezlem Tuereci, chief medical officer at the German vaccine developer BioNTech.

Scientifically and technologically it is possible to make COVID-19 vaccines a global public good, said Soumya Swaminathan, the World Health Organization (WHO) chief scientist.

“We are confident that we’re going to have several candidates that are safe and effective,” taking into account all the work that is going on and the many more vaccine candidates under development, said Swaminathan, who was speaking at a panel discussion of one special session of the United Nations General Assembly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re in a very exciting stage now where we’re seeing efficacy results coming out on the first vaccine licensure,” said Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at Oxford University.

“That’s not an option. We have to achieve it and we can achieve it,” said Ugur Sahin, chief executive officer with BioNTech.

Still, the challenge is having world political leaders make it happen, said Swaminathan, citing a funding gap of 30 to 35 billion U.S. dollars for the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, which is a global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines.

The funding gap is just 1 percent of the stimulus package countries are spending and it would result in something like 150 billion dollars’ return to the top ten economies of the world if “we have vaccines for the world,” said Swaminathan.