5 Comments

It would be good to mount the seemingly insurmountable problems associated with making next-gen covid vaccines.

Looking beyond one or two covid infections - and looking at say 10 or 20 covid infections over the next 20 years, the question arises about what endemicity looks like? I just read 'SARS-CoV-2 and "Textbook" Immunity' on the JohnSnowProject website. One of the long-term endemicity models looked like this and I'd be interested to hear your view?

"At some point the [organ and immune system] damage accumulated, together with the accelerated immune system aging we discussed earlier plus normal aging processes, can reasonably be expected to outweigh the protective benefits of the memory B and T cells developed from previous infections. As a result, the baseline risk shifts higher - eventually much higher than what it would be at a given age for a first infection."

If true, it's worth trying to surmount the insurmountable.

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always appreciate your efforts to disseminate important science that helps the lay public have at least an inkling of viral pathophysiology

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Sad no vaccine in 50 years. Such a castrophe from Canada and US. What started the Corona?

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Great read. Thank you.

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As someone who grew up in South Africa during the AIDS epidemic, I can only hope that progress on finding universal vaccines is made. The collapse of the South African energy infrastructure ['load shedding' could mean 10 hours of power cuts every day in the next few months as the Southern Hemisphere winter increases demand for lighting and heating] started with the hollowing out of experienced power / grid staff in the eighties as they moved around the country, used sex workers whilst away from home and then spread the virus to other towns.

Nobody knows what the next virus to emerge will be, but it will come; maybe a common Achilles heel will be found in time.

Thank you for your public health messaging.

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