A future new pandemic threatens to be worse than the current one, said on Monday (6) the British scientist Sarah Gilbert, one of the creators of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19, who asked for more investment in research so that the planet is better prepared for the possibility.
“This won’t be the last time the virus threatens our lives and livelihoods. The truth is, the next one could be worse. It could be more contagious, or more deadly, or both,” Gilbert said according to excerpts from a speech that will be aired this Monday night by the BBC.
The speech is part of the Richard Dimbleby Conference, which every year features speeches from personalities from the worlds of science, arts and business.
This professor at the University of Oxford, who helped create a vaccine against Covid-19 that is currently applied in more than 170 countries, will ask that the scientific advances achieved in the fight against the coronavirus not be “lost” due to lack of funding.
“We can’t afford a situation where, after going through everything we’ve been through, we find that the huge economic losses we’ve suffered mean that there’s still no funds to prepare for a pandemic,” she said.
Gilbert will also speak about the omicron variant, against which the United Kingdom intensified the vaccination campaign and resumed the mandatory use of masks in public transport and in commerce.
She will explain that the variant “contains known mutations that increase the transmissibility of the virus” and that “antibodies induced by vaccines, or by infection with other variants, may be less effective in preventing the spread of the omicron”.
“Until we know more, we must be prudent and adopt measures to curb the spread of this new variant,” he recommends.
To curb the spread, the British government announced over the weekend that UK-bound travelers will have to test negative for Covid-19 before boarding.
They must also undergo a PCR test within two days of arrival, with isolation until the result is released.
The UK, one of Europe’s most affected countries by Covid-19, with more than 145,500 deaths since the start of the pandemic, announced on Sunday that it has 246 confirmed cases of the omicron variant, up from 160 on Saturday.
.
Chad-98Weaver, a distinguished author at NewsBulletin247, excels in the craft of article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a penchant for storytelling, Chad delivers informative and engaging content that resonates with readers across various subjects. His contributions are a testament to his dedication and expertise in the field of journalism.
