LONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) – Future pandemics could be even more lethal than COVID-19 so the lessons learned from the outbreak must not be squandered and the world should ensure it is prepared for the next viral onslaught, one of the creators of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine said.
The novel coronavirus has killed 5.26 million people across the world, according to Johns Hopkins University, wiped out trillions of dollars in economic output and turned life upside down for billions of people.
“The truth is, the next one could be worse. It could be more contagious, or more lethal, or both,” Sarah Gilbert said in the Richard Dimbleby Lecture, the BBC reported. “This will not be the last time a virus threatens our lives and our livelihoods.”
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Gilbert, a professor of vaccinology at the University of Oxford, said the world should make sure it is better prepared for the next virus.
“The advances we have made, and the knowledge we have gained, must not be lost,” she said.
Efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic have been uneven and fragmented, marked by limited access to vaccines in low-income countries while the “healthy and wealthy” in rich countries get boosters, health experts say.
A woman receives an Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium in Cwmbran, South Wales, Britain February 17, 2021. Geoff Caddick/Pool via REUTERS
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A panel of health experts set up by the World Health Organisation to review the handling of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has called for permanent funding and for greater ability to investigate pandemics through a new treaty. read more
One proposal was for new financing of at least $10 billion a year for pandemic preparedness.
The COVID-19 outbreak was first detected in China in late 2019. Vaccines were developed against the virus in record time.
Gilbert said the Omicron variant’s spike protein contained mutations known to increase the transmissibility of the virus.
“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,” Gilbert said.
“Until we know more, we should be cautious, and take steps to slow down the spread of this new variant.”
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Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Kate Holton
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
UK bans flights from South Africa region, EU plans similar
Variant has a protein dramatically different to original
Epidemiologist wards travel cubs may be too late
Israel on verge of state of emergency
Parts of Europe already battling record daily COVID cases
LONDON/GENEVA, Nov 26 (Reuters) – Global authorities reacted with alarm on Friday to a new coronavirus variant detected in South Africa, with the EU and Britain among those tightening border controls as scientists sought to find out if the mutation was vaccine-resistant.
Hours after Britain banned flights from South Africa and neighbouring countries and asked travellers returning from there to quarantine, the World Health Organization (WHO) cautioned against hasty measures.
But European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU also aimed to halt air travel from the region. read more
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Scientists are still learning about the variant, identified this week, but the news pummelled global stocks and oil amid fears what new bans would do to already shaky economies across southern Africa. read more
The variant has a spike protein that is dramatically different to the one in the original coronavirus that COVID-19 vaccines are based on, the UK Health Security Agency said, raising fears about how current vaccines, successful against the more familiar Delta variant, will fare.
“As scientists have described, (this is) the most significant variant they’ve encountered to date,” British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News.
The WHO was holding a meeting in Geneva, with experts discussing the risks the variant, called B.1.1.529, presents, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said. read more
For now, it warned against travel curbs.
“At this point, implementing travel measures is being cautioned against,” Lindmeier told a U.N. briefing in Geneva. “The WHO recommends that countries continue to apply a risk-based and scientific approach when implementing (curbs).”
Nearly 100 sequences of the variant have been reported and early analysis shows it has “a large number of mutations” requiring further study, Lindmeier said.
British health minister Sajid Javid said the new variant had probably spread to other countries.
“The sequence of this variant … was first uploaded by Hong Kong from a case of someone travelling from South Africa,” Javid told lawmakers.
“… Further cases have been identified in South Africa and in Botswana, and it is highly likely that it has now spread to other countries.”
Israel barred its citizens from travelling to southern Africa as Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said a few cases of the variant had been reported there,
Passengers wearing protective face masks, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, walk at the Haneda airport, in Tokyo, Japan June 13, 2021. REUTERS/Androniki Christodoulou
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Israel’s Ynet news website reported that, according to the Health Ministry, one of those individuals had received a third shot, or booster, of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine two months ago. A Health Ministry spokesperson could not confirm the report.
“We are currently on the verge of a state of emergency,” Bennett said, according to a statement from his office. read more
“Our main principle is to act fast, strong and now.”
TOO LATE FOR TRAVEL CURBS?
One epidemiologist in Hong Kong said it may be too late to tighten travel curbs.
“I think we have to recognise that most likely this virus is already in other places. And so if we shut the door now, it’s going to be probably too late,” said Ben Cowling of the University of Hong Kong.
South Africa, which is to convene its advisory National Coronavirus Command Council on Sunday, will speak to British authorities to try to get them to reconsider their ban, the foreign ministry in Pretoria said. read more
“Our immediate concern is the damage that this decision will cause to both the tourism industries and businesses of both countries,” Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said in a statement.
Britain and other European countries had already been expanding booster vaccinations and tightening curbs as the continent battles a fourth wave of the coronavirus, led by the delta variant, with many reporting record daily rises in cases. read more
The new wave and discovery of the new variant come as Europe and the United States enter winter, with more people gathering indoors in the run-up to Christmas, providing a breeding ground for infection.
Italy imposed an entry ban on people who have visited southern African states in the last 14 days, and Germany will declare South Africa a virus variant area, a health ministry source said. France suspended all flights from southern Africa for 48 hours. Bahrain and Croatia will ban arrivals from some countries. read more
India issued an advisory to all states to test and screen international travellers from South Africa and other “at risk” countries, while Japan tightened border controls for visitors from South Africa and five other African countries. read more
The coronavirus has swept the world in the two years since it was first identified in central China, infecting almost 260 million people and killing 5.4 million. read more
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Reporting by bureaux across the world; Writing by Miyoung Kim and Nick Macfie; Editing by John Stonestreet
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An employee holds a vial containing Sputnik vaccine at a factory of Hankook Korus Pharm, in Chuncheon, South Korea September 10, 2021. Picture taken September 10, 2021. REUTERS/Heo Ran
WINDHOEK, Oct 23 (Reuters) – Namibia will suspend its rollout of Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, its health ministry said on Saturday, days after the drugs regulator in neighbouring South Africa flagged concerns about its safety for people at risk of HIV.
The Gamaleya Research Institute, which developed Sputnik V, said Namibia’s decision was not based on any scientific evidence or research.
South African regulator SAHPRA decided not to approve an emergency use application for Sputnik V for now because, it said, some studies suggested that administration of vaccines using the Adenovirus Type 5 vector – which Sputnik V does – was associated with higher susceptibility to HIV in men. read more
Namibia’s health ministry said in a statement that the decision to discontinue use of the Russian vaccine was “out of (an) abundance of caution that men (who) received Sputnik V may be at higher risk of contracting HIV,” adding that it had taken SAHPRA’s decision into account.
Sputnik V remains one of the safest and most efficient vaccines against COVID-19 in use globally, the Gamaleya institute told Reuters. It said more than 250 clinical trials and 75 international publications confirmed the safety of vaccines and medicines based on human adenovirus vectors.
“While adenoviruses, including ad-5, are one of the most frequent causes of light common flu…, there is no evidence of increased risk of HIV infection among human population after (the) common cold,” the institute said.
“These inaccurate speculations that have since been refuted relate to unsuccessful clinical trials of another HIV vaccine by another manufacturer that simply did not seem effective enough.”
A meta-analysis of six clinical studies and their long-term follow-up in 7,092 participants showed there was no statistically significant increase of HIV-1 infection among adenovirus type-5 vectored vaccine recipients, it said.
Namibia said the suspension would last until Sputnik V receives a World Health Organization Emergency Use Listing. But it will offer people who received a first dose of Sputnik V a second to complete their immunisation course.
Reporting by Nyasha Nyaungwa in Windhoek and Polina Devitt in Moscow, Editing by Alexander Winning, Ros Russell and Timothy Heritage
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.