Abstract
Since the beginning of 2020, the world has changed in many ways, but no one predicted the changes that would result from a pandemic For many years, epidemiologists predicted that this moment would come, but not many people paid attention People and governments appear astonished to see the impact of a virus on the global economy The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a profound impact on our normal way of life, on our economic activities, and on the security of nations Critically, it has highlighted our collective failure to invest sufficiently in pandemic preparedness and to fill the gaps required for countries to be better prepared Remarkably, scientific research and development in response to the pandemic has been unprecedented in terms of speed and the number of new scientific publications (1) Global research institutions and vaccine developers have developed new vaccines within one year of the identification of the virus that are now being administered in many countries, albeit mostly in high-income countries But the science is not our biggest victory yet, because if science serves to accentuate existing inequities, then it cannot really be seen as progress The biggest success would be if the world can come together in global solidarity to ensure equitable access to the vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics required to end the pandemic The COVID-19 virus is rapidly evolving (2) At least three strains considered variants of concern have already emerged that have massively increased transmissibility of the virus (3) Several countries in Southern Africa are recording a higher number of cases (4) There is urgent need for rapid new investments in science and development to stay ahead of the natural evolution that will select these variant strains The current “variants of concern” will not be the last to evolve and could be associated with epidemiological changes in the pandemic or escape from diagnostic tests, treatments, or vaccines Now, more than ever, countries need to work together to fight this pandemic
Highlights
Since the beginning of 2020, the world has changed in many ways, but no one predicted the changes that would result from a pandemic
The biggest success would be if the world can come together in global solidarity to ensure equitable access to the vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics required to end the pandemic
At the beginning of the pandemic, countries like Nigeria and others in Africa had limited access to diagnostics and therapeutics, which were largely manufactured in high-income countries (5)
Summary
Since the beginning of 2020, the world has changed in many ways, but no one predicted the changes that would result from a pandemic. Scientific research and development in response to the pandemic has been unprecedented in terms of speed and the number of new scientific publications (1). Global research institutions and vaccine developers have developed new vaccines within one year of the identification of the virus that are being administered in many countries, albeit mostly in high-income countries. The biggest success would be if the world can come together in global solidarity to ensure equitable access to the vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics required to end the pandemic.
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