Does Homegrown Vaccine Still Matter

[webfact]

 

An Article by Silada Rojratanakiat

 

Inequity in vaccine distribution and protectionism drive Thailand to develop a homegrown vaccine. Producing homemade vaccines aims to achieve self-sufficiency, increase collaboration among research and development organizations, and boost national competency in COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing.

 

Private enterprises, investors, and public health authorities have avoided domestic vaccine development for decades.

 

Despite the apparent advantages, cost concerns, irregular access to financing, uncertainty about demand, and other difficulties have hindered most nations and businesses from entering the vaccine production business.

 

Thailand, like many other countries, is mainly reliant on vaccine imports. As a result, Thailand failed to get the appropriate vaccine supply on schedule in the first phase of this pandemic.

 

Thus, COVID-19 has reignited a long-dormant concern and highlighted the critical necessity of indigenous manufacturing competence for Thailand’s security and health.

 

Strong sovereign capability is essential. Homegrown vaccines will save lives, generate employment, and help Thailand maintain its position as Asia’s medical hub.

 

A homegrown vaccine has several advantages, including increased public-health resilience in times like these; increased ability to respond quickly to Thailand-specific diseases; improved preparedness for the next epidemic or pandemic; and, on the economic side, less strain on trade balances, an increased in the skilled labor pool and a reduction in foreign-exchange requirements.

 

Other emerging economies, particularly those with large domestic populations, such as India and Indonesia, have built substantial domestic vaccine enterprises.

 

Due to a desire not to be reliant on the vagaries of global supply, imports, and donations, as well as uncertainty about the duration of the pandemic, Thailand decides to develop its own vaccine against COVID-19 apart from negotiating with pharmaceutical behemoths and joining the Covax vaccine sharing initiative.

 

Beginning in early 2020, corporate and public organizations in the country began creating their own COVID-19 vaccines in the hopes that at least one would be successful.

 

These Thai indigenous vaccine candidates result from cross-sector collaboration, with commercial pharmaceutical businesses collaborating with public health authorities or university labs.

 

Thai vaccine candidates that have advanced to clinical trials include the Government Pharmaceutical Organization’s inactivated vaccine "HXP-GPOVac," Chulalongkorn University’s mRNA vaccine "Chulacov19," Bionet’s DNA vaccine "COVIGEN," and Baiya Phytopharm’s protein subunit vaccine "Baiya SARS-CoV-2 Vax 1 Vaccine".

 

Thailand also has an additional 20 vaccine candidates, which leverage multiple technologies and platforms in the earlier stages. These different tools in the toolbox are expected to ultimately function nicely.

 

Nevertheless, none of the Thai-made COVID-19 vaccine candidates is yet approved. Some challenges to advancement include a lack of cooperation among academics, restricted access to money, insufficient regulatory frameworks, complicated market dynamics, and a scarcity of local talent.

 

Furthermore, these vaccine candidates must undergo rigorous safety and effectiveness testing before they are approved for public use. Some worry that these vaccine candidates may be too slow to fill the gap in the market.

 

Moreover, it needs to be seen whether Thailand’s indigenous vaccines can compete with existing vaccines, mainly if faith in homegrown vaccines is poor or if homegrown vaccines can effectively prevent new variants. Many believe using homemade vaccines is unnecessary, primarily because existing vaccines perform well.

 

There are still unanswered questions about homemade vaccines. In any case, the knowledge and technologies gained can help Thailand prepare for future pandemics.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic is a once-in-a-generation challenge that provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come back stronger and better than before.

 

Source: https://thainews.prd.go.th/en/news/detail/TCATG220901095032024

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2022-09-01

 

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[ThailandRyan]

Yet the lab that had a contract for a vaccine production has gone silent with how many it produced or is still producing and shipping out to others.  I find that very strange in itself.

[Geoffggi]

7 minutes ago, webfact said:

Thailand, like many other countries, is mainly reliant on vaccine imports. As a result, Thailand failed to get the appropriate vaccine supply on schedule in the first phase of this pandemic.

So nothing to do with making wrong choices with regard to vaccines by the head of medical services 

[lujanit]

Like the Thailand 'Ebola vaccine' a homegrown covid vaccine will never see the light of day.

[mikebell]

Check Anutin's bank deposits to see where the future lies.

[connda]

Pre-anti-virals the vaccines were being marketed not as a vaccine that keeps you from getting Covid, as more and more break-though cases appeared, but as a prophylaxis that would keep you from becoming seriously ill when you contracted Covid.  How many time have I heard from my vaccinated friends and family, "I'm so grateful I got the shots because when I got Covid it could have been so much worse." 
Now?  We hear that Favipiravir, Molnupiravir, Paxlovid will be available over the counter at Thai pharmacies.
So there are now non-vaccine treatments for Covid.  ????

[Rimbuman]

I made my own vaccines and it works great, I even mixed my own boosters so I don't see why they shouldn't do it themselves.