COVID19 Road to a vaccine episode 8: Professor Katie Flanagan

In episode 8 of our COVID19 Road to a vaccine series, our host, Associate Professor Nigel Crawford, speaks with Professor Katie Flanagan. Katie is Head of Infectious Diseases at Launceston General Hospital and is affiliated with the University of Tasmania, Monash University and RMIT where she is involved in a broad range of research projects, with her main interests being in vaccinology and infectious diseases immunology. She has led a number of vaccine immunology trials. In this episode they discuss:

  • Immunological aspects of SARS-CoV-2
  • Vaccine responses in adults versus children and the difference in adult immune systems
  • Vaccinology strategies being used in the development of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine
  • Antibody response variation by age
  • Viral vector vaccines and how they work
  • Novel vaccine approaches and the implications of these on vaccine safety including: mRNA and DNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccines 

Links:

Download the episode:

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by MVEC Education

Questions and answers about COVID-19 vaccines

The Vaccine Education Center (VEC) at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHoP) has recently launched a new resource page answering common questions related to the development and safety of COVID-19 vaccines. Readers are also encouraged to submit their own questions directly to the VEC team for response.

To access this initiative please follow the link here

by MVEC Education

Coronavirus vaccine progress report: the projects bidding to win the race for a COVID-19 vaccine

With over 140 vaccine candidates in various stages of development globally, the ABC has taken a look at the role that Australian researchers are playing in the effort to produce a safe and effective vaccine for COVID-19. 

ABC: Coronavirus vaccine progress:the projects bidding to win the race for a COVID-19 vaccine 

To further explore the COVID-19 vaccine development process and hear from a variety of national and international experts, please subscribe to our podcast series:
COVID-19 Road to a vaccine 

by MVEC Education

New immunisation reference page: Vaccine development and safety

In an effort to promote confidence in the safety and efficacy of immunisation, MVEC has looked at the steps undertaken by vaccine candidates prior to being registered for use in vaccination programs. Post-licensure surveillance programs are also important for the early detection of any unexpected safety signals that may arise.

To learn more please visit our MVEC page Vaccine development and safety

by MVEC Education

COVID19 Road to a vaccine episode 7: Professor Norman Baylor

In episode 7 of our COVID19 Road to a vaccine series, our host, Associate Professor Nigel Crawford speaks with Professor Norman Baylor. Professor Baylor is the former Director of the Office of Vaccines Research and Review Center at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is the President and CEO of Biologics Consulting and current advisor to the WHO.

In this episode they discuss:

  • The important role of regulatory authorities in the development and release of new vaccines
  • Emergency Use Authorisations (EUA) and their use
  • Compressed timelines in the development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines
  • Requirements of regulatory bodies in the development of vaccines
  • Opportunities for collaboration/”work-sharing” between the national regulatory bodies (FDA, EMA and TGA)
  • The role of regulatory bodies in vaccine safety

Links:

Download the episode at:

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by MVEC Education

COVID19 Road to a vaccine episode 6: Professor Paul Offit

In episode 6 of our COVID19 Road to a vaccine series, our host, Associate Professor Nigel Crawford, speaks to Professor Paul Offit. Professor Offit is an infectious diseases physician and Director of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHoP) Vaccine Education Center (VEC). The VEC website inspired the creation of the Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre, the host of this podcast series. 

In this episode they discuss:

  • The impact of SARS-CoV-2 on health care workers and the importance of a vaccine
  • Preventative therapies and randomised controlled trials in a pandemic, specifically the use of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 and the other trials involving health care workers
  • COVID-19 in children - do they play a role in transmission? Will they be a target for vaccine studies?
  • Paediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome (PIMS) - how can we factor this emerging condition into safety planning?

Links:

You can listen to this episode here:

Spreaker - Apple - Spotify 

by MVEC Education

COVID19 Road to a vaccine episode 5: Professor Terry Nolan

In episode 5 of our COVID19 Road to a vaccine series, our host, Associate Professor Nigel Crawford speaks to Professor Terry Nolan. Professor Nolan is a Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor at the Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity. He heads up VIRGO, the vaccine and immunisation research group, a collaboration between Murdoch Children's Research Institute and the University of Melbourne. VIRGO has the largest and longest standing child and adolescent vaccine population research and clinical trials program in Australia. He previously chaired ATAGI, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation and was a member of SAGE, the World Health Organisation's main advisory group on vaccines and immunisation. They discuss the COVID-19 candidate vaccines from an Australian perspective and Australia's role in global clinical trials.  

Links:

Listen on:

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by MVEC Education

COVID19 Road to a vaccine podcast episode 4: Professor Kanta Subbarao

In episode 4 of our COVID19 Road to a vaccine series, our host, Associate Professor Nigel Crawford, will be speaking to Professor Kanta Subbarao. Professor Subbarao has been the Director of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza since 2016, based at The Doherty Institute at the University of Melbourne, Australia. She is a virologist and physician who specialises in paediatric infectious diseases. Her research is focused on influenza, as well as newly emerging viral diseases of global importance such as SARS and MERS, which includes immune responses to infection and vaccination. 

In this episode they discuss:

  • The specific virus characteristics of SARS-CoV-2
  • How the biosafety laboratory at VIDRL (Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory) were able to culture the SARS-CoV-2 virus and distribute their findings globally
  • The origin of coronaviruses and why this pandemic strain is different
  • The spike protein and the important role antibodies play in the development of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine
  • Immunological principles in the development of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine
  • How to determine an antibody is functional and protective 
  • The likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 changing over time 

You can listen via our podcast page or via the links below:

Spreaker - Apple - Spotify 

by MVEC Education

Flu deaths prevented as cases plummet amid coronavirus lockdowns, AMA says

New data as reported by the ABC suggest that social distancing measures, reduced travel and other restrictions implemented in the COVID-19 pandemic appear to have resulted in a sharp decline in the number of influenza cases. 

Dr Chris Moy of the Australian Medical Association is careful to note that we may have actually delayed an influenza outbreak, but still believes the number of influenza cases will be less as we have a far more immunised population this year. 

Read more here: 

ABC: Flu deaths prevented as cases plummet amid coronavirus lockdowns, AMA says 

The MVEC team strongly support vaccination as a way to protect from seasonal influenza, read more in our MVEC Influenza vaccine recommendations. 

by MVEC Education

COVID19 Road to a vaccine podcast episode 3: Professor Andrew Pollard

In episode 3 of our COVID19 Road to a vaccine series our host, Associate Professor Nigel Crawford will be speaking to Professor Andrew Pollard, Professor of Paediatric Infection and Immunity at the University of Oxford. Professor Pollard is head of the Oxford Vaccine Group, who, along with the Jenner Institute, are running the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine trial.
 
They will be be discussing:
 
  • ​The Oxford Vaccine Centre's COVID-19 vaccine trial being run by the Oxford Vaccine Group and The Jenner Institute which Professor Pollard is co-leading 
  • How the Oxford Vaccine Group's previous work on the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus vaccine enabled them to commence work on a SARS-2 vaccine very quickly, using the same platform
  • How the prior research into MERS and SARS vaccines gave huge insight into biology of coronaviruses and likely protective antigens
  • Vaccine safety concerns in vaccine development like antibody enhanced disease (AED) and the important role of vaccine safety in trial design and evaluation
  • An update on progress of The Oxford Vaccine Centre's current trials with the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine
  • The use of a control arm in randomised trials and how the COVID-19 Oxford Vaccine Trial are using a meningococcal vaccine in their control arm 
  • How declining disease in the community resulting in lower transmission and flattening of the curve affects both vaccine trial design and location of study sites
  • The upscaling of vaccine manufacturing required in a pandemic and how critical it is that there is global, equitable access to vaccine(s) when they are available
Resources:
 
 
You can listen via our podcast page or via the links below:
 
 

by MVEC Education