LONDON, December 6, Reuters - Future pandemics could be even more deadly than COVID 19 so the lessons learned from the outbreak must be prepared for the next viral attack, according to one of the creators of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
The novel coronaviruses killed 5.26 million people in the world, wiped out trillions of dollars in economic output and turned life upside down for billions of people, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The next one could be worse. Sarah Gilbert said in the Richard Dimbleby Lecture that it could be more deadly or more contagious. This is not the last time a virus threatens our lives and livelihoods. Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at the University of Oxford, said the world should make sure it is prepared for the next virus.
She said that the advances we have made and the knowledge we have gained must not be lost.
Efforts to end the COVID 19 epidemic have been uneven and fragmented, characterized by limited access to vaccines in low-income countries while the healthy and wealthy in rich countries get boosters, health experts say.
A panel of health experts set up by the World Health Organisation to review the handling of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic called for permanent funding and greater ability to investigate the epidemic through a new treaty. The outbreak of COVID 19 was first detected in China in late 2019. Vaccines were developed against the virus in record time.
Gilbert said that the Omicron variant's spike protein contained mutations that could increase the transmissibility of the virus.
Gilbert said that there are additional changes that may mean antibodies induced by the vaccines or by infection with other variants may be less effective at preventing infection with Omicron.
We should be cautious and take steps to slow down the spread of this new variant until we know more.