Next pandemic could be more deadly than Covid, says vaccine maker

The novel coronavirus has killed 5.26 million people worldwide, wiped out trillions of dollars in economic output and turned billions of lives upside down, according to Johns Hopkins University.

“The truth is that the next could be worse. It could be more contagious, or more deadly, or both,” Sarah Gilbert said at the Richard Dimbleby lecture, reports the BBC. “This will not be the last time a virus threatens our lives and our livelihoods.”

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 progress we have made, and the knowledge we have gained, should not be lost,” she said.

Health experts say 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” get boosters in wealthy countries.

A panel of health experts set up by the World Health Organization to review its handling of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has called for permanent funding and greater capacity to investigate the pandemic through a new treaty.

One proposal was for at least $10 billion a year of new funding for pandemic preparedness.

The outbreak of Kovid-19 was first detected in China in late 2019. Vaccines against the virus were developed in record time.

Gilbert said that the spike protein of the oomicron variant contains mutations that are known to increase the transmissibility of the virus.

“There are additional changes that could mean antibodies induced by vaccines or other types of infection may be less effective at preventing infection with Omicron,” Gilbert said.

“Until we know more, we must remain vigilant, and take steps to slow the spread of this new variant.”

This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed.