Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is more stable than expected at temperatures that ordinary refrigerators can provide and can be distributed using existing cold-chain shipping and storage infrastructure.
That opens the door for its early use in hard to reach places that might not be appropriate for Pfizer Inc’s vaccine which needs ultra-cold storage.
Vials labelled “COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine” are placed on dry ice in this illustration taken on 5th December, 2020. PICTURE: Reuters/Dado Ruvic
Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson announced that its single-dose vaccine was 66 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19 in a large trial against multiple variants across three continents.
Unlike the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, J&J’s does not require a second shot weeks after the first or need to be kept frozen, making it a strong candidate for use in parts of the world with weak transportation infrastructure and insufficient cold storage facilities.
Why has access to life-saving vaccines been so unequal and could the coronavirus pandemic lead countries to unite around an affordable vaccine?
The bigger picture:
Even before COVID-19 hit, access to vaccines was deeply unequal with around 20 million children not receiving vaccines that could save them from serious diseases, death, disability and ill health, according to the World Health Organization.
An estimated 1.4 million children under five died from vaccine-preventable diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhoea and measles in 2016, according to UNICEF.
The situation could be about to get worse because COVID-19-related lockdowns have disrupted the routine immunisation of millions of children against non-coronavirus diseases like diphtheria, measles and polio.
Approximately 80 million children under the age of one in at least 68 countries could be impacted, according to WHO.
Why has getting vaccines to developing countries been so difficult?
The cost of vaccinating a child against diphtheria, whooping cough, hepatitis B, tetanus, pneumonia, polio, rotavirus, was $US15.90 in 2018, according to GAVI.
While this may not seem much, this is still beyond the reach of many poor households.
This was why GAVI was set up as an alliance, backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, UNICEF and others, to provide vaccines to the world’s poorest countries.
Currently, around a hundred drug development teams worldwide, including institutions, biotechs and big pharma companies, are racing to develop vaccines against COVID-19.
“The worry we have is that unless we scale up production dramatically right now, and do that at risk, when the vaccines are available, they could be bought up by wealthy countries,” GAVI’s chief executive officer Seth Berkley said earlier this year.
Do infrastructure and logistics play a role?
Many poor countries lack reliable electricity and cold storage, two elements crucial to keep vaccines effective, and sometimes there are not enough healthcare professionals to administer the vaccines.
Large parts of the world’s population also still live in places without proper roads, running water or telephone connection, making it difficult to contact potential vaccine recipients and deliver to them.
Moderna’s vaccine is stable for up to six months at a temperature of minus 20 degrees Celsius (-4 F), about home freezer levels, when shipped and stored.
By comparison, Pfizer’s vaccine can be transported and stored for up to 6 months at minus 70 degrees Celsius (-94 F). It can be stored at standard refrigerator temperatures for up to five days.
What about politics?
The stability of a country also plays an important role in whether people can access vaccines.
For example, two-thirds of unvaccinated children live in fragile countries or those affected by conflict, according to UNICEF.
Between 2010 and 2016, Syria saw the sharpest decline in vaccinated children, with coverage falling by 38 percentage points, following by Ukraine where coverage decreased by 33 percentage points, the agency added.
