One of the creators of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has cautioned that vaccines could be less effective against the Omicron variant and warned that future pandemics could be more lethal than the current Covid crisis.
Delivering the 44th Richard Dimbleby Lecture, Prof Dame Sarah Gilbert said there needed to be more funding for pandemic preparedness to prevent the advances made from being lost. She also batted for a universal flu jab saying it should be developed in order to wipe out the threat from influenza.
Sarah added people should be cautious until more was known about it.
She said, “This will not be the last time a virus threatens our lives and our livelihoods. The truth is the next one could be worse. It could be more contagious, or more lethal, or both.
“We cannot allow a situation where we have gone through all we have gone through, and then find that the enormous economic losses we have sustained mean that there is still no funding for pandemic preparedness,” she added.
Asserting that the advances the world has made in battling Covid-19 must not be lost. She said, “There are additional changes that may mean antibodies induced by the vaccines, or by infection with other variants, may be less effective at preventing infection with Omicron.”
News agency BBC quoted her saying, “Until we know more, we should be cautious, and take steps to slow down the spread of this new variant.”
However, Dame Sarah said reduced protection against infection and mild disease would not necessarily mean reduced protection against severe illness and death.
She also called for the rapid progress seen in delivering vaccines and medicines during the pandemic to become the norm.