Can we create a universal Covid vaccine?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 14 April 2022
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Can scientists develop a vaccine which can combat the coronavirus and all its variants?
There have been three lethal outbreaks caused by coronaviruses this century: SARS in 2002, MERS in 2012 and now SarsCov2. Scientists predict we will eventually encounter SarsCov3.
That’s why the race is on to develop a universal vaccine to combat the coronaviruses and variants we know about, and the ones we have yet to confront. But attempts to create a universal vaccine for viruses such as influenza and HIV have been going on for decades - without success.
Before 2020, proposals to create a vaccine against coronaviruses were not thought important enough to pursue since many just cause the common cold.
Now that we understand their real threat, can scientists succeed in creating a vaccine to fight this large family of viruses?
Produced and presented by Sandra Kanthal
(image: Covid vaccines/Getty creative)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to The Inquiry on the BBC World Service with me Sandra Kamphal, each |
| 0:05.4 | week one question for expert witnesses and an answer. |
| 0:13.9 | On November 24th last year, scientists in South Africa informed the World Health Organization |
| 0:19.3 | of a new disturbing variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19. |
| 0:25.8 | It had more than 50 mutations from the original strain and with them came the possibility |
| 0:31.1 | of avoiding the protection of our current vaccines. |
| 0:35.7 | Two days later, it was declared a variant of concern and has since been known by its own |
| 0:41.0 | letter in the Greek alphabet, Omicron. |
| 0:45.3 | Travel to and from South Africa and nearby countries battling surging Omicron cases |
| 0:50.6 | was quickly banned and nations began accelerating the delivery of booster shots |
| 0:55.6 | to blunt the COVID wave they could see coming. |
| 1:02.5 | It's been a really difficult two years as variants of SARS-CoV-2 chase us around the globe |
| 1:07.8 | with wave after wave of infection. |
| 1:14.2 | So scientists are now in a race, not against each other but against the virus. |
| 1:23.8 | So this week I'll be asking, can we create a universal coronavirus vaccine, |
| 1:29.6 | one that may be able to defend us from the growing list of variants we know about |
| 1:33.9 | as well as viruses such as SARS-CoV-3 and 4, which we have yet to meet. |
| 1:43.5 | Part one, the challenge. |
| 1:50.2 | I would posit and I think most public health leaders would agree that we cannot be |
| 1:55.2 | in a position where we have to vaccinate the world every three months or six months or however |
| 2:00.4 | often a new variant emerges and the speed with which new COVID variants are emerging |
| 2:06.8 | in the current environment is quite frightening, frankly. |
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