Covid 19 had brought some good news for the Earth and ocean life. But when coming to Sharks (species are already endangered), they are at much danger with the pharma companies all out to hunt them for a Coronavirus vaccine.
The sharks are likely to be hunted for squalene, which is an ingredient of Coronavirus vaccine. Squalene comes from livers of sharks. The environmentalists believe that about half a million sharks could be killed.
However, experiments are also conducted if a synthetic version made from fermented sugar cane could be used instead of squalene could be used. The environmentalists say that almost three million sharks are killed each year for liver oil for various uses. This sudden rise in demand for the vaccine could push some species closer to the brink, they believe.
British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline is known to use squalene in its adjuvant, which is used in flu vaccines. GSK had in May declared that it would manufacture a billion doses of the adjuvant for potential use in Covid-19 vaccines.
An estimate shows that about 3000 sharks are required to make one ton of squalene. California based Shark Allies group said that about 250,000 sharks would be required to immunise everyone in the world with one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. And this could increase to half a billion if two doses are to be given.
Gulper shark and basking shark are manly hunted down for squalene. This means that these species are already endangered.
