The vaccine bottleneck could be resolved only if countries have enough technical expertise and raw materials, Bacolodnon vaccinologist Dr. Melvin Sanicas said.
Sanicas, a world-renowned vacccinologist now based in Zurich, reacted to the clamor to lift the temporarily waive intellectual property (IP) protection on coronavirus vaccines.
Media reports trace the campaign from India and South Africa, with the governments of the US, Russia, and China eventually joining.
The move is currently backed by 100 countries. The World Health Organization, the United Nations AIDS Charity, and UNAIDS.
“We need more vaccines doses – no question about this,” Sanicas said.
His proposal is to “to increase global manufacturing capacity for all COVID-19 vaccine platforms”.
“I think temporarily suspending IP for vaccines is a good gesture but I think it is actually not the bottle neck because pharma companies are already allowing other companies to manufacture for them,” he said.
He cited AstraZeneca, which has an Indian and a South Korean company manufacturing for them.
Moderna has Takeda manufacturing for them in Japan, he said.
“The main bottle neck for me is the raw materials and the technical expertise in the countries,” he said, adding, “I mean if you want to bake more cake, you don’t focus on the rights to bake the cake right? You want to make sure you have more than enough ingredients, you have several ovens, and several bakers who can bake the cake.”
