how the rapid development of vaccines against Covid-19 prepares us for future pandemics

Since the first report of Covid-19 in December 2019, more than 775 million registered infections and more than 7 million deaths from the disease. This is what makes COVID seventh deadliest pandemic in recorded history.

Factors such as climate change, disruption of animal habitats, poverty and global travel mean we are likely to see more pandemics in the future.

It is impossible to predict exactly when the next pandemic will occur or what it will be. However, experts around the world are working to prepare for this inevitable “Disease X.”

One of the cornerstones of preparing for the next pandemic is to be in the best possible position to design and implement appropriate vaccine. To this end, scientists and researchers can learn a lot from the development of a Covid vaccine.

A look back

After the discovery of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID), work on the vaccine progressed very quickly. IN February 2020 the first batch of vaccines (from Moderna) was completed and the first clinical trials were conducted started in March.

The first vaccine was Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA for approvalDecember 2, 2020 in the UK. Approvals of this and other vaccines, including shots developed by Moderna (another mRNA vaccine) and Oxford/AstraZeneca (a viral vector vaccine), followed elsewhere shortly thereafter.

Previously the fastest vaccine developed took about four years (for mumps in the 1960s). If Covid-19 vaccines took so long, it would mean we would only introduce them this year.

Estimated 13.72 billion doses of Covid vaccine have already been administered, and over 70% of the world’s population has received at least one dose.

The rapid development and commercialization of Covid-19 vaccines will likely be one of the greatest achievements in medical science in history. It also means we are in a much better position to respond to emerging pathogens in the future.

Modern vaccine technology

A lot of work has been preparing us for development for many years Covid vaccines as swift as us. This included the development of recent platforms, such as viral vector and mRNA vaccines, that can be rapidly adapted to recent pathogens.

While scientists were working on mRNA vaccines for decades before the Covid-19 pandemic, Covid shots from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna were the first mRNA vaccines approved for utilize in humans.

These vaccines work by instructing our bodies (the “m” in mRNA stands for messenger) to produce the SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins. These are proteins found on the surface of the virus that support it attach to our cells. This means that when we come into contact with SARS-CoV-2, our immune system is ready to react.

This technology will almost certainly be used to protect against other diseasesand could potentially support in a future pandemic.

In the meantime, scientists are working to further improve mRNA technology. For example, “self-amplifying RNA” has the potential to enhance the immune response at lower doses compared to conventional mRNA.

While our current Covid-19 vaccines are secure and very effective at protecting against severe disease, they are not perfect. We may never be able to create a “perfect” vaccine, but some additional properties we’d like to see in future COVID vaccines include better reduction in transmission, longer-lasting effects, and the need for less repeated updates as recent variants emerge.

Even now they are multiple Covid vaccines in clinical trials. So let’s hope that Covid-19 vaccines that improve the effectiveness of initial vaccinations will be available relatively soon.

Other desirable features include the vaccines we can administer with alternative routes for needles. In the case of Covid-19 and other diseases such as influenza, we are seeing significant progress locally and internationally in terms of vaccines that can be administered through skin patches, through the noseand even orally.

Some challenges

Developing Covid vaccines has been a huge challenge, but for the most part it can be considered a success. Studies have estimated Covid vaccines In the first year alone, 14.4 million lives were saved in 185 countries.

However, the history of vaccination against Covid-19 has also been associated with many other challenges and probably many failures.

First, vaccine distribution was not equitable. An analysis of the initial implementation was suggested almost 80% eligible people in high-income countries have been vaccinated, compared with just over 10% in low-income countries.

Vaccine delivery there was a problem in many parts of the world, so expanding local capacity to enable faster vaccine production and distribution will be vital in the next pandemic.

Moreover, adverse events related to Covid-19 vaccines, such as uncommon blood clots after administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine, have influenced perceptions of the vaccine’s safety. Although any solemn adverse event is vital, these events were very uncommon.

However, these problems have exacerbated other challenges that are hampering the vaccine rollout, including: spreading disinformation.

Disinformation remains a problem today and will likely continue to be widespread as we face the next pandemic. Meeting this challenge requires understanding what stops people from getting vaccinated, then informing, educating, and eliminating misinformation about both vaccinations and the risks of the disease itself.

The main goal should continue to be to restore and build trust in public health authorities. Trust in governments and health authorities has declined during the Covid-19 pandemic, and evidence shows that less trust is associated with fewer vaccines.

Current preparations

There is no doubt that our recent experience with Covid-19, in particular the rapid development of a number of secure and effective vaccines, has placed us in a better position to face another pandemic.

This didn’t happen by accident. Even before the discovery of the Covid-19 virus, many preparations were made to facilitate this. Organizations such as the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) have been supporting research to rapidly develop vaccines to respond to a recent threat.

CEPI conducts an ongoing program aimed at developing a vaccine against the recent threat, i.e. disease just 100 days. While Covid-19 vaccines have been a huge achievement, work continues in the hope that next time we can develop a vaccine even faster.

This article is part of a series on the next pandemic.