500,000 sharks at the risk of being killed for making COVID vaccine

As the entire world struggles to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, the search for a vaccine could lead to new threat with the consideration of shark squalene as a potential antidote for the infection. Shark conservationists like Shark Allies fear that this could lead to the killing of at least half a million sharks all over the world. The advocacy group has expressed concern that the killing of lakhs of sharks will do irreversible damage to the oceanic ecosystem.

Notably, most of the commercial vaccines use squalene, a component of some adjuvants, that are added to vaccines to enhance the immune response. It is estimated that at least 2500 to 3000 sharks are to be slaughtered to make one tonne of squalene.

In the wake of this, a petition with the title ‘Stop Using Sharks in COVID-19 Vaccine – Use EXISTING Sustainable Options’ has been filed on Change.org against using sharks for the vaccine. Over 44,000 people have filed the petition so far.

This source is a cause of alarm not just for sharks, but for humans as well, because it could potentially cause irreparable damage to the marine ecosystem as well as because it is an exhaustible resource and could not work as a cure in the longer run.