Two developments in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic in the past two days have come as a rude shock to many. The first is the suspension of Phase-III trials being conducted by AstraZeneca-Oxford University for the vaccine that they are jointly developing. The other is the revelation that plasma therapy to treat seriously ill patients does not produce the kind of results that it was initially believed to deliver. The news on the vaccine front has caused concern worldwide.

Although some experts are not surprised at the development as they say such adverse results are quite natural in the process of developing a vaccine, the pessimistic view is to point out that so far no vaccine has been developed against HIV. Whatever it is, the pause in the vaccine trial marks a setback, however temporary. The onus is now on the researchers to set at rest all doubts about the vaccine candidate’s safety.
The vaccine pause only underlines the fact that there can be no shortcuts.

Many experts had warned about the alacrity with which researchers and drug companies were going about the task. Although there is no time frame, it is believed that it takes a minimum of two years to develop vaccines. But most companies, driven partly by the potential financial windfall and partly by public pressure, promised to come up with a vaccine by the year end or early next year.

An ugly race to be the first began worldwide, including in India, where the Indian Council of Medical Research, the government’s apex research body, asked Bharat Biotech to be ready with a vaccine by Independence Day on August 15.

There is no doubt the pandemic has played havoc. Millions have lost their livelihoods, companies are struggling to survive and many Covid patients are suffering from side effects even after recovery. But this does not mean there should be undue haste. Politicians and governments need to be cautious to not raise public hope unnecessarily. The public too needs to play its part. It takes little effort to practice physical distancing. It costs the bare minimum to buy a disposable mask. But the price to pay for irresponsibility can be steep.