The White house Coronavirus advisor and Director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci has been known for his comments on the current pandemic raging throughout the world. He has time and again stressed on the need to enhance the public health measures, even at times pointing out the fallacies in how the USA has been dealing with the COVID 19. His comments have more than often have been diametrically opposite to the statements made by POTUS Trump in his various White House press conferences. In the earlier weeks, he had raised concerns that the pandemic situation could get worsened if the norms of social distancing are not followed strictly.

Recently, in a webinar, he has asserted that the efficacy of a COVID vaccine may be in the range of 50-60 %. He also added that the chances of the vaccine being 98% effective are not that great. He further stated that the studies of Moderna Inc COVID vaccine could very well generate definitive data by November or December of 2020. That the Coronavirus could not be completely eradicated, and that the prevalence of its infection can be reduced has been stated earlier by him.

Amid various voluntary trials and vaccine development steps taken around the world, India has been under global limelight as it is the trusted producer of a large number of vaccines needed around the world. This has been affirmed by Dr. Fauci. At one of the conferences, he had mentioned that the world would need a billion COVID vaccines by the end of 2021. This pandemic has been described by various experts including Dr. Fauci as the perfect storm whose end is not in the sight. That it has a respiratory base and is very effective in the human to human transmission makes the disease a nightmare scenario for the public health officials, epidemiologists, and other specialized disease experts. Another concerning feature of this virus is that it jumps species.

Experts like Dr. Swamy Swaminathan of WHO had made a point on the importance of the role of international cooperation through WHO to make an equitable distribution of the COVID vaccine possible. Leading public health officials including Dr. Swaminathan and Dr. Fauci are worried regarding the COVID as it has an unprecedented broad spectrum and range. Almost 20 to 49% of people infected people have no symptoms. Some have mild symptoms for around two weeks, then have the post-viral syndrome, while many others need hospitalization, support of Oxygen, Intensive care unit treatment with many even dying.

Another problem which the world is trying to avoid under the aegis of World health organization is the stashing away of the developed vaccines by the rich countries which happened in the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. This can be avoided if the arrangement of GAVI can be used in its all true intentions and purposes. GAVI – Global alliance for vaccines and immunizations is a public-private partnership in the public health domain with connections and inputs from WHO, World Bank, and UNICEF. It has been instrumental in setting a deal between the Indian Pharmaceutical company-Serum Institute and the British-Swedish firm – Astra Zeneca using funding from Gates Foundation for manufacturing of 100 million units of COVID vaccine.

There are some important stages through which the vaccines come from the stage of inception to final availability in the public space. There are clinical human trials (three phases generally), standardization of the dosage amount for the particular target population, then streamlining of the production operations and then production and distribution. As of now in the Indian context, the Serum Institute is being looked at as the main provider of the vaccine. Until the time vaccine becomes available in the public domain, it is in best interests of the public to follow what is being repeatedly told by the experts around the world like Dr. Fauci and Dr. Swaminathan, i.e. to follow social distancing, wash hands, maintain a certain level of hygiene and to wear the mask while stepping out.