<
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/jan/24/uk-less-prepared-for-pandemic-than-pre-covid-former-vaccine-chief-warns>
"The UK is less prepared for a pandemic than it was before the Covid crisis
after driving away jab manufacturers and relying on a narrow range of shots,
according to the country’s former vaccine chief.
Dr Clive Dix, who chaired the UK’s vaccine taskforce, told MPs on Wednesday
there had been “a complete demise” of work to ensure the UK was better equipped
with vaccines for the next pandemic, noting that all the activities were
“literally gone”.
The vaccine taskforce is widely regarded as a rare highlight in Britain’s Covid
response. It was led by the venture capitalist Kate Bingham and Dix, who took
over as chair in December 2020, when Britain became the first country to roll
out Covid jabs.
Speaking to the Commons science, innovation and technology committee, Dix said
he and Bingham gave ministers a set of “strong recommendations” to make sure
Britain was better prepared when the next pandemic hit, but these were not
adopted or published. “[There were] activities already going on that were
stopped,” he added.
Another big concern, Dix said, was the UK’s reliance on mRNA vaccines, the
approach behind the Pfizer and Moderna Covid shots, to tackle future outbreaks.
“That’s really scary,” he told the hearing. “The mRNA vaccines are not the
be-all and end-all. They will only work if we know what the virus is and know
the antigen,” he said, referring to the part of the virus that triggers the
immune system.
Beyond failing to invest in a range of vaccine technologies, the UK also drove
vaccine manufacturers away by treating them so poorly, Dix added, leaving the
country in an even worse position than before Covid.
“What we’ve seen is a whole list of incompetent decisions,” Dix told MPs. “We
have less resilience now because a lot of the manufacturers have walked away
from the UK because of how badly they were treated at the tail end of the
vaccine taskforce.”"
Via Violet Blue’s
Pandemic Roundup: January 25, 2024
https://www.patreon.com/posts/pandemic-roundup-97166797
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
