Korea needs self-sufficiency in Covid-19 vaccination vs future resurgence: expert

[Source: SK Bioscience]

Although the spread of Covid-19 is being slowed down by vaccination and other interventions, there is still a need to have vaccine self-sufficiency in Korea, a medical expert advised, endorsing the ongoing development of SK Bioscience’s first home-made vaccine against the pandemic.

SK Bioscience Monday completed clinical data submission of its Covid-19 jab SKY Covione with local health authorities for marketing authorities. If approved, the pharmaceutical company would become the first marketing authorization holder of such vaccine among the seven Korean vaccine developers.

“Certainly, no scientist would think that a vaccine or a treatment for Covid-19 is obsolete. The need to localize vaccines and therapeutics is still high in Korea,” said Prof. Choi Won-suk, MD, Department of Infectious Diseases, Korea University Ansan Hospital, who participated in a clinical trial of SKY Covione, during a recent interview with Maeil Business Newspaper.

Prof. Choi Won-suk

“We must never take a short-sighted approach toward the signs of easing in the spread of the virus. We need to secure a localized vaccine and treatment platform in advance, as the timing of a future resurgence, the epidemic size, and the type of mutation remain uncertain,” Choi emphasized.

Securing localized vaccines and therapeutics has the advantage of increasing Korea’s price bargaining power to purchase vaccines and therapeutics from overseas, Choi explained. “Home-grown vaccines and therapeutics can serve as a cornerstone to prepare for the emerging of new infectious diseases in the future.”

New infectious diseases in the future are likely to have genes in the form of RNA, which makes it easy to spread between humans and animals, Choi said, adding the physical properties of investigational vaccines and therapeutics against Covid-19 will be fully applicable to new RNA-type infectious diseases in the future.

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