Decline in personal immunity
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mhra-statement-on-booster-doses-of-pfizer-and-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccines
Dr June Raine, MHRA Chief Executive
We know that a person’s immunity may decline over time after their first vaccine course.
I am pleased to confirm that the COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer and AstraZeneca can be used as safe and effective booster doses.
It will now be for the JVCI to advise on whether booster jabs will be given and if so, which vaccines should be used.
UK, Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI)
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-medicine-regulator-says-pfizer-astrazeneca-covid-19-shots-may-be-used-2021-09-09/
Discussing whether booster shots for the elderly and vulnerable are needed
Could be end of September
Final decision with UK government
Monitoring Incidence of COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations, and Deaths, by Vaccination Status — 13 U.S. Jurisdictions, April 4–July 17, 2021
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/09/10/moderna-most-effective-covid-vaccine-studies/
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7037e1.htm?s_cid=mm7037e1_w
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/s0818-covid-19-booster-shots.html
Based on our latest assessment, the current protection against severe disease, hospitalization, and death could diminish in the months ahead,
especially among those who are at higher risk or were vaccinated during the earlier phases of the vaccination rollout.
For that reason, we conclude that a booster shot will be needed to maximize vaccine-induced protection and prolong its durability.
We are prepared to offer booster shots for all Americans beginning the week of September 20 and starting 8 months after an individual’s second dose.
We also anticipate booster shots will likely be needed for people who received the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine.
Pandemic Institute, Liverpool
Seven authorities and institutions
Some Innova funding
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/sep/12/uk-vaccine-volunteers-to-help-prepare-for-next-virus-at-new-pandemic-institute
Aims to prevent future pandemics
Accelerating vaccine development
Human challenge facility
High containment facility outside hospital, which will speed up the process
We could have had first wave trials
Professor Daniela Ferreira, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
If vaccine candidates could have been tested during the first wave of infections, the jabs would have been ready months earlier
Here in Liverpool I led one of the sites for phase 3 of the Oxford vaccine study
We were able to set up really quickly.
When the government implemented a national lockdown, the number of cases plummeted.
We were expecting to have the vaccine study results in three months but it took much longer because there was less community transmission
Building a database of diseases affecting animals trying to work out which might be most likely to jump the species barrier
1,500 species of bat alone
Professor Matthew Baylis of Liverpool University
What I hope is that in 10 years’ time, we’re able to be much more precise as to which species we need to be looking at, and actually look at some of those species to confirm our predictions
it appears to have these properties, it could be transmitted this way, it could cause this type of disease
Also, WHO
Opened the Hub for Pandemic and
Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin
French government launched Prezode, an international initiative focusing on zoonotic diseases
Rockefeller Foundation is creating a Pandemic Prevention Institute in the US
Professor Baylis
Intends to set up three hubs in east, west and southern Africa to work with local researchers
Learning from Denmark
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/denmark-ends-covid-restrictions/2021/09/10/6d6a762e-1210-11ec-baca-86b144fc8a2d_story.html
Since 11th March 2020, has lifted the last of its domestic pandemic-era restrictions
Early vaccine passport
Coronavirus is no longer a “critical threat to society.”
First European Union member to issue declaration
High vaccination rates
Robust testing and sequencing
Robust contact tracing and isolation
No claims of herd immunity
Digital vaccine passport no longer required
Sweden, lift nearly all restrictions at the end of the September
Source