Corona – Warns: – May become more deadly

Two years into the corona pandemic, a number of countries are facing an extensive wave of infections characterized by high infection rates and dismal death records.

In total, over 266 million people have tested positive for the virus, which has also claimed over five million lives worldwide, according to recent figures from Worldometers.

Now vaccine researcher and professor of immunology at the University of Oxford, Sarah Gilbert, warns that future pandemics could hit even harder.

– More deadly

– This will not be the last time a virus threatens our lives and our livelihoods.

The professor said this in his speech during the prestigious event “Richard Dimbleby Lecture”, which was broadcast on British television on Monday night. The speech has been reproduced in several media, including NBC and BBC.

– The truth is that the next pandemic could get worse. It can be more contagious or more deadly – or both, she continued.

Gilbert, one of the researchers who developed the AstraZeneca vaccine, also stressed the importance of the world community learning from the corona pandemic.

“We can not afford a situation where we have gone through all this, only to find out that the enormous financial losses we have incurred mean that there are not enough funds left to finance pandemic preparedness,” she said, adding:

– The progress we have made, and the knowledge we have acquired, can not be lost.

Closes school after possible omicron outbreak

– Best we can hope for

The discouraging statement comes in the wake of the fact that the omicron variant has recently spread in a number of countries.

Experts around the world have expressed concern about the newly discovered mutant, which it probably is the most transmissible virus variant the world has seen so far during the pandemic.

Gilbert explains that the new variant contains a spike protein that is known for increased transmissibility of the virus, at the same time as changes have been discovered which means that antibodies from vaccines or covid infection may be less effective.

– But as we have seen before, reduced protection against infection and mild disease does not necessarily mean the same as reduced protection against serious illness and death.

The omicron variant was first discovered in South Africa at the end of November. In Norway, 24 cases of the new variant have been confirmed. In contrast to several health leaders who have expressed concern, vaccine expert Gunnveig Grødeland believes that the omicron variant may be the beginning of the end for the coronavirus.

– A corona variant that spreads faster and gives milder disease is the best we can hope for, says Grødeland to Stavanger Aftenblad.

Grødeland is the leader of the research group Influenza and adaptive immunity at the Department of Immunology and Transfusion Medicine at the University of Oslo. The group has started with investigations of the new mutation and will, among other things, try to find out how the variant affects the risk groups, and how the vaccine protects against it, writes NTB.

–