Ivana haluskova balter
The policies needed to ensure that future vaccines for SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and treatments but also for any upcoming pandemic and list of diseases can be made widely available.
We need to look into vaccine and drug candidates in the current R&D pipeline and there is more than ever a need for international co-operation to focus on key issues like incentivising R&D, building large-scale manufacturing capacity and managing intellectual property rights.
The costs of EIDs (emerging infectious diseases) are vast, in both human and economic terms. As well as the devastating death toll and disruption to societies, COVID-19 could cost the global economy $4.1 trillion, or almost 5% of global gross domestic product. Even small epidemics can cause tremendous economic disruption and heavy societal consequences.
Vaccines are one of our most powerful tools in the fight to outsmart epidemics. The development of vaccines can help save lives, protect societies, and restabilise economies but there is a need to increase awareness and provide tangible examples from past (ex. Polio, BCG, Rotavirus vaccine ) and explanation not only dedicated to healthcare personnel.