The COVID-19 pandemic is demanding a great deal from all of us. The global search for a vaccine is progressing at a feverish pace - and here a new dilemma is emerging that ElasmOcean cannot ignore:
Squalene is already used in many vaccines today to enhance tolerability and the immune response. Squalene is an unsaturated hydrocarbon chain with the chemical formula C30H50, which is also found in many cosmetics and medical products. Unfortunately, in some quarters (including during the testing phase for a COVID-19 vaccine), squalene is sourced from: deep-sea sharks.
Whilst a shift in perspective is occurring in many areas of our lives, the production of squalene continues to be "business as usual", relying on this unsustainable, unreliable source for squalene even though plant-based alternatives have long existed - such as olive oil and pumpkin seeds. Synthetic methods utilizing microbes are also already established in laboratories. The C30H50 molecules are completely identical.
If billions of doses of the new COVID-19 vaccine are now required and manufactured annually, this threatens not only the persistence of many shark species already threatened with extinction, but additionally, their subsequent decline potentially threatens the global supply of the vaccine we are all waiting for: reliable supply chains for animal-derived squalene cannot be guaranteed in light of overfished stocks and a poorly regulated industry - the pathway via shark squalene is therefore a dead end from the very beginning!
ElasmOcean therefore supports the demand and petition by Shark Allies to transition the use of squalene in COVID-19 vaccines to plant-based or synthetic alternatives. The efficacy of the molecule does not depend on its origin - but for sharks, it makes a vast difference, and consequently for us. Sustainability means finding solutions without generating new problems.
