In answering the question on vaccine development posed by the editorial, it is important to understand that today’s recombinant vaccine technology requires constant investment by the State to build capacity in molecular technology, genetics and artificial intelligence, as well as private sector investment to build out the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors.

The countries leading the race to generate a vaccine against COVID-19 invest a minimum of 1.5 per cent of their national budget each year on research and are complemented by well-established pharmaceutical sectors. Among the Caribbean states, only Cuba has shown long-term investment in these sectors and is able to participate in primary vaccine research. But even Cuba is struggling to keep pace with the breakneck speed of vaccine development for COVID-19, which is harnessing artificial intelligence and molecular shortcuts to compress the time frame for vaccine development —including clinical trials, regulatory approval and manufacturing — to approximately one year.

That said, the editorial, in asking whether researchers in Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean are working towards developing a vaccine, or other forms of antiviral treatment, makes two important observations. The first is that the UWI participates in world-class medical and scientific research, and second, that the region (i.e., greater Latin America and Caribbean region) holds a very tiny proportion of the world’s patents. 

See full story below.