Merdeka.com – The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the world, including Indonesia for more than a year. Various ways are done to break the chain of transmission, including producing vaccines. This vaccine is expected to reduce the impact of the virus if someone is infected. Various kinds of vaccines were created to fight this virus.
One such vaccine is AstraZeneca, which was developed by AstraZeneca PLC with the University of Oxford. This vaccine is also claimed to be much cheaper and easier to obtain than other vaccines such as Pfizer and Moderna.
The Astrazeneca vaccine can be sold cheaper because the creators of this vaccine don’t make too much profit. Especially during a pandemic like this. Dame Sarah Gilbert, one of the scientists behind the creation of the AstraZeneca vaccine, is reluctant to take full patent rights so that the price of her Covid-19 vaccine can be cheap.
“I want to throw that idea away (take full patent), so we can share intellectual property and anyone can make their own vaccine,” said the 59-year-old woman.
In addition, this vaccine is easy to distribute because it can still be stored at a temperature of 4 degrees and can last up to 6 months.
“The vaccine supply chain is simple and we promise not to look for profit at all, and will supply hundreds of millions of doses,” AstraZeneca said in a press release quoted from bussines insider, Friday (24/7).
Compared to other vaccines, such as Pfizer and Moderna, they are much more expensive and difficult to store. For example, this vaccine must always be at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit and must be stable. In addition, this vaccine can only last 1 month at refrigerator temperature. If you want this vaccine to last up to 6 months, you have to store it at minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit.
One of the hospitals in the United States, such as the Mayo Clinic, cannot store this vaccine because it does not have adequate refrigeration equipment.
This causes a scramble for the super cold freezer. The cost to get the tool ranges from 5,000 USD to 15,000 USD.
Intern Reporter: Mutiara Syafira [idr]
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