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- The new coronavirus pandemic could have an unexpected side effect: it could kill half a million sharks without even infecting them.
- A substance produced by sharks in the liver is commonly used as an adjuvant to the vaccine to stimulate the immune response to the drug.
- Vaccinating a large enough percentage of the world’s population with two doses of COVID-19 vaccines could end up costing the lives of 500,000 sharks.
The consensus among scientists is that the new coronavirus evolved in animals and then jumped to humans in some way, gaining the ability to bind to human cells and replicate. While some think the virus was engineered in or escaped from a lab, we’ve already seen evidence that the virus evolved naturally and can move between species. Humans can even infect cats and dogs. Most interestingly, authorities found that humans could transmit COVID-19 to minx, and animals could infect other humans. But the coronavirus could have a significant impact on a different species without having to infect it at all. The lives of up to 500,000 sharks could be in danger as the world races to develop coronavirus vaccines that need a substance produced by shark livers to work.
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Sharks’ livers produce a substance called squalene, a natural oil that is often used as an ingredient in vaccines. It’s called an adjuvant, and it increases the effectiveness of the main vaccine compound by creating a stronger immune response. GlaxoSmithKline uses shark squalene in flu vaccines, Sky News reports. The company said in May it would make 1 billion doses of the squalene adjuvant for use in coronavirus vaccines.
The report indicates that it takes about 3,000 sharks to extract one ton of squalene. California-based Shark Allies estimated that a quarter of a million sharks would have to be sacrificed for squalene in order for the entire world’s population to receive a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Most vaccine candidates require two injections a few weeks apart, so the number of shark deaths would double to 500,000. It is not yet clear how long immunity would last after vaccination. If we needed additional injections in the years after the initial one or two dose treatment, much more squalene would be needed.
“Harvesting something from a wild animal will never be sustainable, especially if it is a top predator that does not reproduce in large numbers,” said Shark Allies founder Stefanie Brendl.
“There are so many unknowns of how big and how long this pandemic could last, and then how many versions of it we have to go through, that if we continue to use sharks, the number of sharks caught for this product could be really high, year after year after year. “
If the number of shark deaths seems unbelievable, it’s actually a smaller increase than you think. Sky News says that conservationists estimate that roughly three million sharks are killed each year by squalene, which is also used in cosmetics and machine oil. That said, the additional demand for coronavirus vaccines could endanger some species with livers that are particularly rich in squalene.
However, not all bad news. It will be a logistical nightmare to produce 15 billion doses of vaccines each year, assuming the vaccines are effective and efficient. That is a figure that would explain that the entire world population receives two doses. It also seems highly unlikely to produce 8 billion doses of vaccines per year. In addition, people seem to be increasingly cautious with the first wave of covid vaccines, which means that even fewer doses will be needed as many people will refuse to be vaccinated. It is also noteworthy that some scientists are working on using a different adjuvant that would save sharks. It would be a synthetic version made from fermented sugar cane.
Finally, there is always the theoretical possibility that vaccines will not work. We will have to wait a few more weeks to see if any of the pioneers are safe and effective.
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