Is there light at the end of the Covid‐19 tunnel?

• Published in: Reviews in Medical Virology 2021-05, Vol.31 (3), p.e2173-n/a
• Main Author: Mortimer, Philip P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccines
• ISSN: 1052-9276; 1099-1654
• DOI: 10.1002/rmv.2173

Several of these products have now reached the third phase of evaluation,2 and it is fair to assume that one or two at least of them will meet immunogenic criteria and once they have been shown to be safe begin to be offered to vulnerable populations.3 However, vaccine‐associated morbid enhancement by respiratory virus vaccines was an issue in the early development of a respiratory syncytial virus vaccine, and this phenomenon cannot be ignored as regards SARS‐2 virus no matter how strong the political pressures. In the medium term (i.e., an interval of a few years rather than just months) the aim must be to establish a population immunity that includes age groups for whom SARS‐2 infection constitutes a near negligible risk, and this will involve children whose parents may doubt the value of adding Covid‐19 vaccine to an already crowded vaccination schedule. In the future, these vulnerabilities need to be reduced through prophylactic health care backed by continuing financial commitment. [...]very recently, administrative arrangements in advanced economies have mostly lumped the management of emergent infectious diseases in with the wider public health agenda.