Covid-19 research builds on decades of research to produce a safe and effective vaccine in about a year. John Trizzino, Novavax executive vice president and chief commercial officer, said the effort was a confluence of factors. In addition to the scientific underpinnings of the vaccine itself, logistics and manufacturing also play a role. But next time, things may not play out in the same way. The high efficacy of the first Covid-19 vaccines may be difficult to replicate to other viruses.
“There are other infectious diseases that are harder to deal with than Covid-19,” Trizzino said. “We always challenge ourselves to do better.”
Trizzino made his comments at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization annual meeting in San Diego. Tuesday panel, titled “Stop the next pandemic before it starts: What we’ve learned,” also includes Emma Wheatley, Director of Access and Partnerships at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and Matthew Hepburn, Director of Covid Vaccine Development, Department of Defense Response Acceleration Team.
One way to shorten vaccine development time, Hepburn said, is to do certain things at the same time, including all aspects of the manufacturing process. Much remains to be learned about current manufacturing processes and ways in which they can be improved. But each time a vaccine similar to messenger RNA-based is made, it helps make the process more routine.
“The next product is so similar to the previous one that people have confidence in the future of manufacturing,” Hepburn said.
Wheatley said it was important for future plans to focus less on global supply chains and more on regional ones. She explained that rooting the supply chain in one region will change the way people think about health and safety. Manufacturing and distribution still need to be worked out, Hepburn said. Manufacturing could be more decentralized, which is one way to make vaccines more widely available. Communication about these efforts is also important, Hepburn said. When he first saw the efficacy of the Covid vaccine, he recalled that he was at one time optimistic that the results would change the way people think about all vaccines. But it turns out that this wish is unrealistic. Hepburn noted that while the use of the Covid vaccine has increased in some places, other vaccines have fallen.
“I find it tragic,” he said. “I think what we need to do is, from a government perspective, it’s hard, it requires a lot of cooperation, we need to reach out to the people where they are. We need to take them on the journey.”
Hepburn recently visited a vaccine clinic in North Carolina. The strongest message he heard came from the county health officer, who told people he lived in the community and went to the local church. This connection makes a big difference in how people receive information about vaccines. The trust that is built up can have a wider impact, he said.
This local approach that worked for a small community in North Carolina also works outside the United States. Whitley pointed to the challenges of getting young Africans vaccinated against Covid. A growing body of data suggests that the way to do this is through trust. Young people are more receptive to vaccines if the information comes from local and trusted people, she explained. This communication effort is needed to eliminate vaccine disinformation.
While public health officials have learned lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic, plans for future outbreaks need to allow room for flexibility and change, Whitley said. What worked for the last pandemic may not necessarily work for future pandemics.
“Next time, the only thing you can guarantee is that it will be very different,” she said.
Photo: Nuthaut Somsuk, Getty Images
