The Asia-Pacific region has the expertise and resources to take a leadership role in not only developing a COVID-19 vaccine but distributing it to those who need it most.
The global vaccine research and development effort in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in terms of scale and speed. Given the imperative for speed while also trialing new treatment options, there is an indication that a vaccine could be available under emergency use or similar protocols by early 2021. This is a fundamental change from the traditional lengthy vaccine development pathway, which takes on average over 10 years, even when compared with the accelerated 5-year timescale for development of the first Ebola vaccines.
To achieve the goal of early 2021, we will need parallel and adaptive development phases, innovative regulatory processes and scaled-up manufacturing capacity, and above all very good post-market surveillance to monitor adverse side effects.
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