– By Vinayak Barot
New Delhi: Conservationists are worried about the mass killings of shark in the process of pharmaceutical companies contesting to find a Covid-19 vaccine. “As many as 5 lakh sharks are likely to be slaughtered in order to develop enough doses of an effective vaccine for COVID-19,” a shark support group said.
The founder of California-based Shark Allies Stefanie Brendl said that “We are in no way trying to hinder or slow down the development of a COVID-19 vaccine or any other critical treatment that is needed to protect humanity from illness. It would be unconscionable if more harm was done by something that was avoidable”
“We are asking that sustainably sourced squalene is used in all non-critical applications and where the alternative is just as effective as shark squalene, and that all future testing of adjuvanted vaccines is giving plant-derived sources equal consideration.” Stefanie Brendl added.
“Moving society away from harmful practices requires awareness and a willingness to tackle a transition period. Profit margins may not look as favourable if taking wild animals is seen as cheaper, and easier than other processes. Sourcing an ingredient from a wild animal is not a long-term solution.” Stefanie Brendl said
In the USA – a California-based conservation group – a Shark Allies has warned that in order to create one dose of COVID-19 vaccine each for every single person on the planet, about 2.5 lakh sharks will have to be killed for their liver oil. If two doses are required per person, then the number of sharks would double to 5 lakh.
According to conservationists, around 30 lakh sharks are killed every year so that human beings can utilise squalene in cosmetics, machine oil and other products. With the sudden spike in demand for mass production vaccines, conservationists fear for the shark population and their endangerment.
However, to ensure the absolute preservation of sharks, scientists across various institutions have started turning towards plant-based sourcing of sqaulene including wheat, rice-bran oil etc.
Codagenix Inc said Serum Institute of India has started manufacturing the US biotech firm’s potential COVID-19 vaccine and it expects to begin early-stage human trial of the vaccine by the end of 2020 in the UK.