Thought of the Day - September 29 - COVID Killing Sharks

Well you learn something new every day. As some of you may have all ready seen the press is abuzz with a new story that "half a million sharks could be killed and harvested to produce a COVID-19 vaccine". Squalene, an oil found in shark livers, is used in cosmetics, sunscreen and medicines. It has been used in a number of flu vaccines (e.g. FLUAD and Chiron) for decades. The oil is an emulsifier used in the adjuvant that helps to strengthen immune response. The current articles now talk about it being used to increase the effectiveness of potential COVID-19 vaccines.

Estimates suggest around three million sharks are killed for their Squalene each year. Increased demand for Squalene could threaten populations of shark species which are already endangered, such as the gulper shark.

The main thing that is missing in these articles is that of the 176 vaccine candidates registered with WHO only 17 use adjuvants and only 5 of these are currently using shark-based Squaline. It should be noted that Squalene can also be derived from plants and algae.

Just one more sideline in the growing vaccine wars: ( Thought of the Day - August 19 - Vaccine Wars ).

Cheers

Cliff