New England Journal of Medicine Interview: What to expect from Covid-19 vaccines
In this New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) audio interview, virologist and immunologist Dr Barney Graham discusses structural biology and the future of COVID-19, RSV and other vaccines.
Dr Graham was at the forefront of vaccine development for COVID-19 and has a background studying RSV. In this interview, he reflects on his work with the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) and emphasises the importance of education for improving vaccine uptake.
NEJM Audio interview with Barney Graham
MVEC holiday period closure
On behalf of the MVEC Team, we wish you a very happy and safe holiday season with your loved ones.
Our team will be taking a break and will return in February to provide you with more vaccine education, resources and events in 2023. We'd love to hear from you if there are any specific vaccine topics you would like to see covered next year!
We also want to say a huge thank you to all our amazing collaborators who have kindly shared their expert knowledge across a number of important vaccine topics and across all of the MVEC platforms this year!
If you’re travelling this holiday season, stay safe, make sure your vaccines are up to date and pack your sunscreen and insect repellent!
The Conversation: COVID vaccines for children under 5 are almost here. Here’s what parents need to know
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has provisionally approved a paediatric dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for children aged from six months.
MVEC’s Dr Daryl Cheng, along with A/Prof Margie Danchin, explore what parents need to know ahead of Australia’s rollout of the Moderna vaccine in this cohort, including the safety and efficacy of the vaccine and the benefits and implications of vaccinating this age group in this article.
To read the article in full, please click on the link below:
The Conversation: COVID vaccines for children under 5 are almost here. Here’s what parents need to know
ABC: A surge in influenza cases in Queensland prompts doctors to issue vaccine warning for children and vulnerable groups
Experts warn that children are increasingly more vulnerable to influenza disease this year. MVEC’s paediatric infectious disease specialist Dr Angela Berkhout explains that children, particularly those under two years of age have low levels of natural immunity to flu as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
While flu season has yet to peak, hospitals in Queensland have already experienced an influx in the number of flu patients requiring hospital admission, including intensive care. This article explores key considerations for vaccinating children, seniors over the age of 65 years and other vulnerable groups.
To read the full article, follow the link below:
For the more information on influenza vaccines and the 2022 influenza season please see our resources below:
NCIRS Webinar - Living with COVID-19: Getting back to immunisation business as usual
NCIRS will be hosting a webinar on Thursday 3 March featuring a panel of expert speakers including MVEC’s A/Prof Nigel Crawford. The topic for the webinar is Living with COVID-19: Getting back to immunisation business as usual and will cover:
- an update on Australian COVID‑19 vaccine recommendations
- COVID-19 and routine immunisation programs regionally and globally – what’s needed
- new COVID-19 vaccines – do we need to change our strategy in response to new variants?
Further information and details on registration can be found via the link below:
NCIRS Webinar - Living with COVID-19: Getting back to immunisation business as usual
MVEC animation: The Road to a COVID-19 Vaccine
With Australia looking towards a COVID-19 vaccine program beginning in early 2021, MVEC have created the following animation for sharing with a wider audience, to help explain the process of developing a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine in a compressed timeframe.
For more information on the vaccine development process please refer to our immunisation reference page here.
For information on the provisional vaccine registration pathway in Australia please refer to our reference page here.
Contain This: A new podcast by the Indo-Pacific Centre for Health Security
"Contain This" is a podcast produced by the Indo-Pacific Centre for Health Security looking at global health security trends. The Centre has recently kicked off a new series on COVID-19 vaccines as it plans the $500 million Regional Vaccine Access and Health Security Initiative targeting Southeast Asian and Pacific island countries.
To listen to discussion on topics such as vaccine uptake, financing, priority groups, as well as safety and efficacy, please refer to the link below:
Contain This: The Latest In Global Health Security
MVEC Vodcast series - COVID-19 vaccines
As 2020 draws to a close there is optimism that a safe and effective vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) will soon be approved to control the pandemic. With over 200 vaccine candidates currently in various stages of clinical trials across the globe, Australia has signed advance purchase agreements with 4 different vaccines.
In our 3-part vodcast series, COVID-19 vaccines, Dr Daryl Cheng and Dr Daniela Say discuss how it is possible to develop a vaccine in such a compressed timeline, the various vaccine platforms being utilised in clinical trials and their individual advantages and disadvantages, as well as the different priority groups to be offered immunisation. Daryl and Daniela touch on the preliminary results from clinical trials and what they show us in terms of vaccine safety and effectiveness, as well as discuss the ongoing safety monitoring that will occur even once a vaccine has been approved for use.
You can view the vodcasts via the link below:
Final episode of COVID19 Road to a vaccine: Professor Walter Orenstein
In the final episode of this podcast series our host, Associate Professor Nigel Crawford, speaks with Professor Walter Orenstein. Dr Orenstein is a Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, Global Health and Paediatrics at Emory University; Associate Director of the Emory Vaccine Center and the Director of Emory Vaccine Policy and Development. An expert in vaccinology, Dr Orenstein has worked at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Director of the United States Immunisation Program and is a current member of several WHO groups. Further to this he is the co-editor of the vaccine textbook, Plotkin’s Vaccines, 7th edition. In this episode they discuss:
- Lessons that can be learnt from Plotkin’s Vaccines in the setting of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and development of vaccines
- Recent press releases showing promising early results from two mRNA COVID-19 vaccine candidates developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna
- The critical role of ongoing monitoring for safety and effectiveness of vaccines once they are in use
- The likely highest priority groups when vaccines do become available
- The role of children in SARS-CoV-2 transmission and whether or not they need to be vaccinated
- The importance of a correlate of protection in SARS-CoV-2 vaccines
- The need to monitor for vaccine associated enhanced disease (VAED)
- The importance of immunisation providers supporting reports of adverse events following immunisation (AEFI)
- The importance of communication in supporting vaccine acceptance and uptake
- Key next steps on the road to a COVID-19 vaccine: a better understanding of how many doses are required and when, a prioritisation process so the vaccines can be used most effectively (with a clear allocation system); and communicating to the public that social distancing and wearing a mask will be ongoing for some time as a level of normality won’t be reached immediately, even with the exciting new efficacious COVID-19 vaccines
Links:
- Plotkin’s Vaccines, 7th ed
- Pfizer/BioNTech conclude phase 3 study of COVID-19 vaccine candidate, meeting all primary efficacy endpoints
- Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate meets its primary efficacy endpoint in the first interim analysis of the phase 3 COVE study
You can listen to the episode here:
Vaccine Vodcasts
As 2020 draws to a close there is optimism that a safe and effective vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) will soon be approved to control the pandemic. In our 3-part vodcast series, we discuss how it is possible to develop a vaccine in such a compressed timeline, the various vaccine platforms being utilised and their individual advantages and disadvantages, as well as the different priority groups to be offered immunisation. We will explore the preliminary results from clinical trials, as well as discuss the ongoing safety monitoring that will occur even once a vaccine has been approved for use.