by Martin Glenz, Principal Scientist, Pall Biotech
Vaccines protect hundreds of millions of people every year from a host of diseases that have the potential to take millions of lives. When administered to enough of the population they can even eradicate the disease altogether. For example, smallpox has been officially eradicated for more than 40 years. Others, such as polio, have been reduced by as much as 99.9% but a small number of cases remain, often in isolated communities with limited access to healthcare. Some diseases, like measles, have been radically reduced but are resurgent after a reduction in the vaccination rates. Most topically, new diseases such as COVID-19 shine a spotlight on the need for rapid vaccine development and distribution to bring global pandemics under control. COVID-19 also highlights that, for highly transmissible diseases that carry the potential to mutate and render existing vaccinations less effective, nobody is safe until everybody is safe. In such a dynamic scenario, the speed of development, the efficacy of any given vaccine and the manufacturability are critical factors.
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