Dutch virologist: ‘Vaccine development looks good’ | Inland

“The definitive data must of course come from human studies. But: yes, I think it looks good, ”he says in an interview with the AD.

Munster has been working continuously on the vaccine at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since January. That is part of the National Institute of Health (NIH), the largest biomedical institute in the world. Anthony Fauci, Trump’s chief corona adviser, is his immediate boss.

“My main work was to show in the animal models that the vaccine worked, and that at least it had no side effects in monkeys. That worked out. Now in the lab we are very meticulously researching how the vaccine works, which parts of the immune system are stimulated. We also want to know whether the vaccine only protects against the serious symptoms of Covid-19, such as pneumonia, or whether it can also prevent human-to-human transmission, ”says Munster.

Even if it stays with just the protection against the severe symptoms of disease, he still thinks purchasing the vaccine is a good purchase. “I think so. What worries the most about corona are those people who become very sick or eventually even die. The elderly, or those with underlying suffering. If you can protect those people against the worst complaints, you will have won 80 to 90 percent of the battle. The extra step, that you can also stop the transmission of the virus, would be great. We will see if that is possible. ”

Munster does not expect the vaccine to provide lifelong protection against the corona virus. “You will probably need a new vaccination once in a while, just like with the seasonal flu.”

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