Thread by @zhanghe_goh

Here's the latest episode of #COVID19 : Updates from Singapore

This series of webinars is brought to you by @WHOGOARN and @NUSMedicine

It's hosted by @profdalefisher , Prof. David Allen, and Dr. Louisa Sun

Watch here:

This week's guest is Dr. Richard Hatchett from @CEPIvaccines

This episode starts off with Dr. Sun addressing some questions that the team has received from the public

These questions revolve around vaccines and have been addressed in my previous thread

See here for the full thread:

https://twitter.com/threadreaderapp/status/1377874867538780163

While no. of cases have largely dropped in the last month, it has risen in some regions, a trend that @profdalefisher has called "disappointing"

One country in which no. of cases is rising is #Brazil

@profdalefisher calls for better leadership and coordination of pandemic response

In contrast to my previous thread, there seems to be emerging evidence that past infection with #COVID19 may not last

#Europe is now scaling up restrictions given the arrival of another wave

How will this affect #EasterWeekend2021 ?

In the #UnitedKingdom, most countries have been "red-listed"

This means that visitors from these countries are not allowed to enter the #UnitedKingdom at all (or that they need to self-isolate upon entering the UK)

@profdalefisher juxtaposes #Israel with #UnitedKingdom , countries that experience unusual trends in their respective regions

@profdalefisher believes that this can partially be attributed to an "emerging herd immunity"

This means that #vaccines can start providing protection even before the whole population has been #vaccinated

#India is getting criticism for exporting #vaccines even though only a small fraction of its population has been #vaccinated

In the #EasternMeditarranean, #UAE has been #vaccinating its population aggressively

In #WesternPacific, there has been an update on #Olympics2021

It starts on 24 Jul 2021, with no overseas fans allowed

There seems to be a crisis in #Cambodia , which stands out when compared with other #Asian countries

Many of these countries are dependent on #VaccineDiplomacy for #vaccines , so most of the good control comes from effective #PublicHealth policies*

* which I have written about many times in previous thread--#isolation, #testing, #masking, #handwashing etc.

In #Singapore, #COVID19 has been brought under control with almost no cases and deaths

Now on to our segment with Dr. Richard Hatchett

@CEPIvaccines is a new organisation that grew out of 2014 #Ebola #epidemic *

* we probably need a new official name for this virus instead of naming it after the region where it was discovered

While the #Ebola #vaccine had been under development for over a decade (!) , it was not ready for deployment

Despite being fast-tracked, the #Ebola #vaccine did not signfiicantly affect the course of the #pandemic when it was finally deployed

Thus the need for a global platform to create a #rapid response and ensure #equitable access to these #vaccines

As early as #December2019, @CEPIvaccines had already started planning for a response to #COVID19

@CEPIvaccines actively sought partners and funding to expedite #vaccine #development and #deployment

This was even discussed at #Davos2020

#Singapore was a huge supporter of #vaccine #multilateralism

One key question that @CEPIvaccines faced:

Given that we would be in this in the long term, are there going to be enough resources to manage #COVID19 in the long term?

Concerns include
1) Managing #COVID19 effectively, while
2) Keeping up with #variants

Encouragingly most companies like @AstraZeneca have been actively thinking about, and keeping up with, this problem with the #variants

@profdalefisher asks Dr. Hatchett whether he has been "happy with the way that the #vaccines have been rolled out"

Dr. Hatchett believes that there have been mistakes and that the #vaccines could probably have been rolled out more quickly

But, putting this into context, Dr. Hatchett seems to be pretty satisfied with how this has turned out

The major issue with #vaccines at the moment lies with the supply; manufacturers are currently scaling up production massively

Dr. Hatchett hopes that #vaccines are taken seriously and made into an essential part of the global architecture

Doing so would guarantee funding for this effort

Interestingly Dr. Hatchett doesn't see #intellectualproperty as a bottleneck to #vaccine deployment

Instead, he believes that the rate-limiting steps lie with the unique nature of #biologics manufacturing, tech transfer, scaling up, etc.

What keeps him awake at night?

"The gap in #equality," says Dr. Hatchett.

He points towards the #unequal distribution of #vaccines as a struggle in the near-term

In the long term, Dr. Hatchett points out that #COVID19 "is far from the worst case imaginable", comparing it to #SARS and #MERS

There are a million viruses out there that have far greater lethality and / or transmissibility than #SARS_CoV_2

@profdalefisher asks about lessons learnt in #COVID19 that would help resolve some of Dr. Hatchett's fears

Dr. Hatchett cites the many #vaccine development platforms that have emerged as a result from the #COVID19 #pandemic that can hopefully be applied to future crises

He also talks about some science developed at @NIAIDNews that played an integral role in the development of what later became the #modernavaccine and #PfizerVaccine

That brings us to the end of the segment by Dr. Hatchett

Taking the opportunity to give @CEPIvaccines a shout-out because this is an institution that, according to Prof. Allen, "doesn't get a lot of air time"!

Here's a slide that I've taken from Prof. Allen's presentation that gives a quick snapshot (pun intended, deal with it) of the global #vaccine situation

Taken from the 1.00 hr mark of the video

Eligibility for #vaccination in #Singapore is expanding!

In #VaccineDiplomacy, #Singapore is a huge player and supporter of #COVAX

Strangely, #COVAX doesn't seem to be on Twitter; here are its partners instead: @WHO, @gavi, and of course @CEPIvaccines

In this discussion of #VaccineDiplomacy, Prof. Allen (like Dr. Hatchett did earlier) warns against #VaccineInequity

Unfortunately @AstraZeneca is currently facing some challenges, which it is is working hard to resolve:
- Logistical (meeting their manufacturing contracts)
- #Efficacy (against the new variants)
- #Toxicity (side effects)

But Prof. Allen reminds us that these issues SHOULD NOT detract from #ChAdOx1 's value as an excellent vaccine!

A reminder from Prof. Allen that #VaccineProtection can come from more than neutralising antibodies;

This may also arise from induction of T-cell activity, for example

There are also a couple of ongoing #mRNA #vaccine trials
- To determining #dosing and #efficacy
- To address cold chain requirements
- To address virus #variants and role of boosting
- To explore #vaccine strategies for #variants

Watch at 1 hr 15 min

Prof. Allen also discusses #VaccinePassports, in the same breath ...

… and address the big question:

Is #HerdImmunity achievable?

And this brings us to the end of this episode for this month.

The pandemic song of the month is:
"You Gotta Be"

by Des'ree

Watch here:

Prof. Allen describes it as

"An infectiously 😅😅 sunny tune about the affirmative powers of self-confidence and having the inner strength to weather these uncertain times"

And the webinar ends with a video from @profdalefisher

(I have no idea where these videos come from, or I'll link to them...)

Till next month, stay safe, #WashYourHands , #WearAMask , and get #vaccinated !!

@threadreaderapp kindly unroll please