About 66 percent of epidemiologists, virologists and infectious disease specialists shared the opinion that first-generation jabs for COVID-19 will eventually become useless. The survey’s findings followed attempts by vaccine manufacturers to create booster shots for their jabs, given the proliferation of new coronavirus strains.
The People’s Vaccine Alliance – a coalition of more than 50 worldwide public health bodies – conducted the survey from February 17 until March 25 of this year. They interviewed 77 health experts based in 28 countries worldwide.
Out of the interviewees, 66.2 percent believed that coronavirus mutations will render existing jabs useless within one year. The rest of the interviewees, on the other hand, were more optimistic. Around 18.2 percent said it would take at least two years before the vaccines become completely ineffective. Meanwhile, 7.8 percent expressed strong faith that future mutations will not compromise the effectiveness of vaccines. The remaining 7.8 percent were unsure of any time estimates.
nterestingly, the 66.2 percent who believed the effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines will decline with further mutations were divided when it comes to time estimates. The majority — about 32.5 percent — surmised that the protective effects of current COVID-19 jabs will drop in nine months or less, while 18.2 percent gave a shorter estimate of less than six months.
University of Edinburgh professor Dr. Devi Sridhar warned of this eventuality. “The more the virus circulates, the more likely it is that mutations and variants will emerge – which could make our current vaccines ineffective,” she explained.
Meanwhile, Oxfam Health Policy Manager Anna Marriott said that the survey highlights the need for “a people’s vaccine.” This “people’s vaccine” should aim for a two-fold purpose of protecting individuals already vaccinated from future mutations and safeguarding those in the world’s poorest countries.
Vaccine manufacturers have commenced development of booster shots due to the threat presented by new strains. Some of these so-called “variants of concern” include the B117 strain from the U.K., the B1351 from South Africa and the P1 strain first found in Brazil. Sinopharm and Moderna are now working on booster shots to address these more contagious strains that could possibly bypass the immune system.
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