Preparedness: the next Pathogen?

As the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact one thing is certain: It is unlikely to be the last global pandemic we will experience in our lifetimes. COVID-19 is just the latest in a growing trend over the past 20 years of zoonotic diseases that have done a species jump, and it may be the ‘dress rehearsal’ for an equally or even more virulent airborne pathogen to come.

What is clear is that the successful development of COVID-19 vaccines has valuable lessons for the decades long search for a safe and efficacious HIV vaccine. The future of mRNA technology as an approach to finding an HIV vaccine is promising.

The COVID-19 vaccine effort has taught us that to achieve HIV vaccine success, sufficient and diversified research funding is crucial. There needs to be concerted efforts to enhance global coordination and collaboration. Research innovation and novel trials designs need increased support and governments must fully commit to the cause as a matter of urgency.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also shown us that inconsistent community engagement can lead to misinformation, a lack of trust in governments and health systems, and an increase in vaccine hesitancy.

Inequitable access to COVID-19 vaccines has been a major hurdle to containing the pandemic. Vaccine nationalism and the hoarding of vaccine doses by wealthy nations have left many low-income countries without enough supplies for their populations. The stockpiling of emergency supplies (such as PPE and oxygen) and the logistics of meeting rapidly ramped-up demand was also major bottleneck in the response to COVID-19.

Future pandemics can only be defeated by working together to end inequalities, promoting people-centred approaches, engaging communities, planning early for global equitable vaccine access, respecting human rights, building partnerships, and responding with urgency.