Nature Article Series: Stopping the Next Pandemic
The Quest for a UIV
Even amid the COVID-19 crisis, we could still be hit with an influenza pandemic and today’s seasonal flu vaccines would not stop it. A universal influenza vaccine (UIV) could. In 2021, the Influenzer Initiative teamed up with Nature Custom Media to release a series of articles exploring how to develop, deliver, and finance vaccine R&D to deliver a much-needed universal influenza vaccine. Links to the full articles and related resources are listed below. This quest is global, it’s under way, and it could save millions of lives.
Preventing influenza pandemics
New advances in fields ranging from structural biology to immunology, and bioinformatics to bioengineering are fueling research and a push for a universal influenza vaccine. In Influenzer’s first article with Nature Media published in February of 2021, we discuss progress made since the swine flu pandemic in 2009 and the changes needed to protect against the next influenza pandemic.
What COVID-19 revealed about preventing pandemic influenza
COVID-19 vaccines arrived faster than any vaccine before it. In Influenzer’s second Nature article, the ongoing success story of COVID-19’s vaccine research and development provides lessons for producing vaccines that could save millions in the next influenza pandemic.
Vaccine experts: Reshape R&D pipeline to prevent pandemics
The vaccine R&D community had to move quickly to fight the COVID-19 emergency and create a viable vaccine, but it also revealed the weaknesses in the R&D ecosystem. In this third article published November 2021, necessary changes to the vaccine pipeline and their challenges are presented.
Revealing the hidden value of vaccines
Vaccines are one of the most successful public health measures ever designed. Understanding their full value could steer investment in the right direction. In Influenzer’s last article with Nature Custom Media, the benefits of vaccine innovation to the workforce are inspected.
Related Resources
Episode 8: Reshaping Vaccine R&D for Pandemic Prevention
The vaccine R&D community moved quickly to fight the COVID-19 emergency. But can it remake itself in ‘peacetime’ to stop the next pandemic threat?
Episode 7: Global Health Security Requires Pandemic Prevention
COVID-19 has cost the world millions of lives and trillions of dollars, and it will not be the last time we face such a threat. But there’s hope, say the diverse and influential experts featured in our seventh documentary episode: it’s within our power to prevent another devastating pandemic. Learn why we must not wait to invest in key pandemic preventions like universal influenza vaccines.
Episode 4: Applying Lessons Learned from COVID-19 to Prevent Influenza Pandemics
Alan Bernstein, Julie Gerberding, Edward Holmes, Mike Osterholm, Lynda Stuart, and Holden Thorp consider what COVID-19 can teach us about pandemic preparedness, vaccine development, and public health policy.
Influenza Vaccination and the Vaccination Ecosystem
An excerpt from the Sabin Aspen Vaccine Science & Policy Group report, “Accelerating the Development of a Universal Influenza Vaccine”.