(London) The next pandemic is likely to be “worse”, will warn on Monday the British scientist Sarah Gilbert, co-creator of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19, calling for investment in research to be better prepared for this eventuality.
“This won’t 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 deadly, or both, “must warn Sarah Gilbert according to extracts from a speech which will be broadcast on the BBC Monday evening.
This speech takes place within the framework of the Richard Dimbleby conference, which brings together personalities from the world of science, the arts or business.
This professor of vaccinology at the University of Oxford, who helped create a vaccine against COVID-19 now used in more than 170 countries, will call for “not losing” for lack of funding the scientific progress made in the fight against the coronavirus.
“We cannot allow a situation where, after going through everything we have been through, we find that the huge economic losses we have suffered mean that there is still no funding for pandemic preparedness.” , she must say.
Mme Gilbert must also speak out about the Omicron variant, against which the United Kingdom has accelerated its vaccine booster campaign and reintroduced the compulsory wearing of the mask in transport and shops.
She will explain that this variant “contains mutations already known to increase the transmissibility of the virus” and that “the antibodies induced by vaccines, or by contamination by other variants, may be less effective in preventing infection by Omicron “.
“Until we know more, we must be careful and take measures to slow the spread of this new variant,” she must plead.
To curb the spread of this virus, the UK government announced last weekend that travelers to the UK will need to test negative before leaving.
They must already do a PCR test no later than two days after their arrival, and isolate themselves until the results.
The United Kingdom, one of the most bereaved countries in Europe with more than 145,500 dead since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, announced Sunday 246 positive cases for the Omicron variant, against 160 the day before.