Description Of Covid-19 Vaccine Development And Launch (Term Paper Sample)

INTRODUCTION
Covid-19 is an emerging infectious disease first reported in Wuhan in 2019. It is a communicable disease spreading through contaminated droplets and particles which get airborne. Most people typically develop only mild symptoms, but others, especially the old and those with underlying medical conditions, are susceptible to COVID-related complications. The common symptoms are fever, cough, and loss of smell and taste, but could extend to difficulty in breathing or shortness of breath (WHO, 2022a).
Over 566.9 million cases have been confirmed as of July 2022. This number includes over 6.3 million who have succumbed to the virus since the beginning of the pandemic. The peak of infections was recorded in mid-January, when over 23.2 million new cases were recorded in a week (WHO, 2022c).
Extracted from: WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard (WHO, 2022b).
As of mid-July 2022, over 12.2 billion doses of vaccines had been administered globally. The uptake is lowest in Africa, with some counties recording only 4.18 doses issued per 100 people. Interestingly, developed countries like Australia already record 240.63 doses administered per 100 people (WHO, 2022c). This is evidence of vaccine inequality, as it appears that less developed countries are the ones recording the least uptake.
Extracted from: WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard (WHO, 2022b).
Evidence shows that COVID-19 vaccines effectively reduce the cases of hospitalizations, complications, and deaths from the disease (WHO, 2022). Yet, some people are still hesitant to get vaccinated. To accelerate the uptake, countries such as Israel, Spain and Italy have implemented various measures such as vaccine campaigns (Antonini et al., 2022). Others have considered mandatory vaccination, but it provoked communities and led to political resistance. Mandatory vaccination in Canada, for instance, led to street protests for weeks (Dyer, 2022). Protests and political unrests in Martinique and Guadalupe also went on for months, threatening French government stability (Ward et al., 2022).
Some studies link vaccine mandates to increase vaccine uptake in some countries (Karaivanov et al., 2022), but I still do not deem it appropriate to coerce people into taking the vaccine. It should remain a personal decision whether or not to get vaccinated.
This reflective literature review is guided by the Gibbs Reflective Cycle. The model encourages people to systematically think about unique experiences and situations, or even events, so as to better respond to similar situations should they arise in the future (Gibbs, 1988). The debate also takes into consideration of the seven principles of public health practice. These are Beneficence, nonmaleficence, proportionality, justice, autonomy, efficiency, and health maximization.
19812001318895The Gibbs Reflective Cycle00The Gibbs Reflective Cycle
Source: The Gibbs Reflective Cycle (Gibbs 1988)
MAIN BODY
Description of Covid-19 vaccine development and launch
When the WHO reported a pandemic Covid-19 started to cause panic and fear amongst local populations (Nicomedes and Avila, 2020). Many countries implemented daily briefings to report to their citizens on the progress. Several containment measures such as social distancing and wearing face mask were soon set up to slow the infection as WHO and other research institutions attempted to understand the disease (WHO, 2020). It soon became evident that vaccine was the best way to end the pandemic and return back to normal (WHO, 2021).
World Health Organization has so far evaluated and approved the following ten Covid-19 vaccines for use: Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer, Moderna, Sinopharm, Sinovac, COVAXIN, Nuvaxovid, Covovax and the CanSino (WHO, 2022b).
The efficiency differs for each of these vaccines. Pfizer BioNTech has a 95% efficiency against symptomatic Covid-19 infection, while Moderna vaccine has an efficiency of 94.1%, which starts 14 days after administering the first dose. Data reveal that administering another dose of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine after the second dose bears a 72% efficiency against symptomatic Covid-19. Phase 3 trials in different countries revealed that two doses of Sinopharm vaccine, administered 21 days apart, has a 79% efficiency against symptomatic Covid-19. It also offers 79% efficiency against hospitalization. Data in Brazil revealed that two doses of the Sinovac-CoronaVac vaccine, when administered 14 days apart, offered a 51% efficiency against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2, and a 100% efficiency against severe symptoms. For the Bharat Biotech BBV152 COVAXIN, data shows that administering another dose 14 days after the second dose would offer 78% efficiency against of any Covid-19 severity. Data from USA shows that two doses of Johnson and Johnson, two months apart, bears and efficiency of 94%. For the Novavax vaccine has a 90% efficiency against mild, moderate, and severe SARS-CoV-2, while CanSino bears a 58% efficiency against symptomatic and 92% against severe COVID-19 (WHO, 2022b).
Apart from the efficiency variations, these Covid-19 vaccines also bear unique characteristics in terms of storage, transport, and stability at room temperature. The Moderna vaccine, for instance, can remain stable for up to 24 hours at room temperature but the shipping temperatures should be maintained at -20 °C. This vaccine can last for three months when refrigerated at 2-8 °C, while Oxford AstraZeneca can remain stable for six months when stored at the same temperatures (Holm and Poland, 2021).
Things changed after these vaccines were finally launched and distributed, as interesting theories emerged and spread. Some were linked to the vaccine development period and the controversies surrounding the virus's emergence. The covid-19 vaccine was developed in a record time, and no other vaccine has ever been developed within a year. The vaccine history before Covid-19 shows that the fastest ever developed mump vaccine was achieved in 4 years (Prabhu, 2022). Vaccine development typically takes ten years.
The short development period elicited mixed reactions among many (Forni et al., 2021). It sparked a debate on the vaccine's safety, and several conspiracies surrounded the matter. The vaccine uptake ultimately slowed, and governments started considering other ways to improve the uptake. Mandatory vaccination has since been observed in different nations trying to contain the virus. Such mandatory policies differ in intensity, and noncompliance consequences also vary. As recounted by in the Vaxxers book, the process of development of vaccines, for example the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, was quicker as some stages run ran simultaneously rather than sequentially. This made it possible for the vaccine to be released within a year (Gilbert, Green and Crewe, n.d.)
Feelings
Whereas vaccine hesitancy is not new, it was initially anticipated that many would go for the vaccine considering the scare it came with Covid-19. It brought the world to a halt, especially when schools were closed and most international travel banned. People panicked (Nicomedes and Avila, 2020) and wanted ways to lessen the impact from the pandemic, and it was anticipated that vaccine take up rate would be high.
The narrative slowly changed as conspiracy theories emerged. Some popular conspiracies were that the disease is caused by the 5G cellular technology, or that Bill Gates intended to use the virus to enslave humanity through enforcement of a surveillance system through the use of vaccines (Shahsavari et al., 2001). Even when the vaccine was finally availed, a section of the population started feeling indifferent about the vaccine. Covid-19 is still a public concern, yet some people are still reluctant to vaccinate, and some countries have tried mandatory vaccination policies. Some started feeling they were being imposed on some foreign vaccine they do not fully trust.
Evaluation
There are key takeaways from the experience of the development of the vaccine, its roll-out, and the population feeling. It becomes evident that people are not only interested in the vaccine but also in the way it is developed. People were initially scared and were expected to rush for the vaccine, but it turns out that other externalities could change the expectation. Only a minority of the population are against mandatory vaccination, but Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy is still reported in many countries (OECD, 2021).
It will remain a remarkable success that the development of Covid-19 took a relatively short time. It is also encouraging to note that a bigger section of the population approved the vaccine and the need to get vaccinated. However, mandatary vaccination is overly coercive and resulted in resistance. Some human right activists decided to take the matter to the court. Some mandates were eventually stopped by a court of law, but there are some that were upheld in the court of law (Abbasi, Rubin and Suran, 2022).
There are also places where mandatory vaccination was also able to drive vaccine uptake and enable containment of the virus (Karaivanov et al., 2022). Mandates came in different forms, such as restricting access to public places or some public services and were powerful incentives for vaccination.
Analysis
* Mandatory vaccine policies violate principles of public health
Though mandatory vaccination can be argued to favour some principles of public health, such as health maximization, it does violate some others, such as respect for autonomy. Going by this principle, a health intervention should not employ coercion and manipulation, yet mandatory vaccination...