'No vaccine better than poor vaccine': Scientists raise concerns over rush

Scientists have warned that a rush to announce the world's first COVID-19 vaccine could lead to the rollout of an inferior drug, that might not be safe and effective. According to a report in The Guardian, a professor from Oxford University and an adviser to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Sir Richard Peto said that the nationalistic and capitalistic sentiments surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine could force countries to launch less effective drugs in a rush to become first. 

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Prof Peto warned that if a less effective vaccine is approved then it will become very difficult to evaluate future drugs for the disease. He said that vaccine is urgently needed but we need a vaccine that works and is also safe.

This comes as the United Kingdom's Department of Health said that it would take emergency measures to push a vaccine as soon as possible before the end of the year. The United States President is also pushing for a vaccine so that he could launch it before the upcoming presidential poll in November. 

Peto, who is a member of the WHO’s Solidarity Vaccines Trial Expert Group, said that it better to have no vaccine than a poor one as it might worsen the ongoing pandemic as people would wrongly assume they are immune to the disease and would feel that there is no longer a need to not follow COVID-19 restrictions. 

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Russia recently announced a drug in what it claimed is the world's first COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine candidate named 'Sputnik V' has received widespread condemnation as Russia launched it without conduction advanced trials on humans.

Following criticism, Russia announced a clinical trial on people saying it would inoculate over 40,000 citizens. While announcing the "world's first COVID-19 vaccine" earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that one of his daughters has taken the drug in order to propagate that it is safe and effective for use. 

COVID-19 pandemic

Meanwhile, the United States remains the worst-hit nation with over 5.9 million cases and at least 1,83,000 deaths to date, followed by Brazil, India, and Russia. The global tally from the disease stands at 25 million infections with over 844,700 deaths as of August 31. 

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