As a vaccine product passes through clinical development, manufacturers will have to ensure that they are taking the required steps to ramp up production, as there is unprecedented global demand. The quick manufacture and distribution of effective vaccine products are vital, as a slow or botched rollout may lead to global unrest due to the devastation and subsequent hardships caused by the pandemic, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Mohamed Abukar, MSc, Clinical Trials Analyst at GlobalData comments: “Relevant authorities must strategically identify the most essential population groups to vaccinate. The two main aims should be to reduce deaths and prevent the spread of the disease. This can be achieved by prioritizing more at-risk groups including older patients, those with pre-existing conditions, and at-risk ethnicities. Healthcare workers should also be prioritized due to their close contact to COVID-19 patients and their concomitant higher risk of contracting and spreading the virus.

“To achieve eradication of the virus, a large proportion of the world’s population will require immunization. Once a wider vaccine rollout is available, public health campaigns surrounding vaccinations will also be required to negate the flow of misinformation that has been highly prevalent throughout the pandemic and that has resulted in wide-scale vaccination distrust, which may ultimately hinder the battle against COVID-19.”

The duration of immunity and the level of compliance with vaccination will have to be carefully monitored to achieve and maintain herd immunity, which could require up to 75% of the population to achieve immunity.