[ad_1]
More than 2,800 scientists from 130 countries gathered on Friday January 15 in a virtual forum hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) to identify knowledge gaps and set research priorities for SARS-CoV vaccines -2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
They discussed the safety and efficacy of existing vaccines and new candidates, ways to optimize the limited supply, and the need for additional safety studies.
“The development and approval of several safe and effective vaccines less than a year after this virus has been isolated and sequenced is a staggering scientific achievement,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, in his opening speech. “Approval of the first vaccines doesn’t mean the job is done. Far from there. More vaccines are in the works, which need to be evaluated to make sure we have enough doses to get everyone vaccinated. “
Over 30 million doses of vaccine have already been administered in 47 mostly high-income countries. But the global roll-out of the vaccine has revealed glaring inequalities in access to this life-saving tool.
“The spirit of collaboration must prevail in these difficult times as we seek to understand this virus,” said Dr John Nkengasong, director of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We need to be aware of the inequalities and we need to deliberately promote investment in regional capacities to level the playing field and have meaningful collaboration to start addressing some of the challenges.”
Experts agreed on the need for critical research on vaccine delivery in different target populations, as well as vaccination delivery strategies and schedules. This includes testing, modeling and observational studies, all of which would help inform policy.
They discussed the impact of emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2 on vaccine efficacy, the impact of vaccines on infection transmission, and the need to develop the next generation of vaccine platforms. .
“The world needs multiple vaccines that work in different populations in order to meet global demand and end the COVID-19 epidemic. Ideally, these will be single dose vaccines that do not require a cold chain, can be given without a needle or syringe and can be manufactured on a large scale, ”said Professor Mike Levine, director of the Center for Vaccine Development at the ‘University of Maryland.
The meeting concluded with an agreement to establish a WHO-hosted platform for the global sharing and coordination of emerging vaccine research information on efficacy and safety. The forum would allow scientists to share and discuss unpublished and published data and research protocols to deepen our collective understanding of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.
“WHO will regularly convene experts from around the world, encourage collaborative research, provide standard protocols and develop a platform to share the latest knowledge in the field,” said Dr Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist of the WHO.
[ad_2]
Source link