The ‘post-Covid era’ offers a promising future for new vaccine development
Vaccination interventions are expanding to new diseases and target populations; In addition, vaccines are easier and faster to produce, more flexible in distribution, and more customizable for individual use. These are some of the considerations raised in Vaccines, a Promising Future, a paper developed by a team of 10 multidisciplinary experts, GSK and consultancy Si-Health, which highlights the preventative potential of vaccination and assesses future trends.
In Europe more 100 future vaccines in the field of prevention, of which 80% are aimed at adults. More than half (54%) will focus on improving existing vaccines. and include new treatments against tuberculosis, dengue fever and respiratory viruses such as influenza, Covid-19 and RSV.
For example, existing vaccines against hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human papillomavirus (HPV) prevent 1.1 million cases of liver, cervical, orthopharyngeal and anorectal cancer each year worldwide. And next to themPersonalized therapeutic vaccines are also emerging that can rewire the immune system against cancer cells and offer a promising future for cancer patients.
In adult vaccination programs, persons over 60 years of age are one of the populations of greatest concern given the increasingly aging population. In this sense, the current vaccination schedule includes vaccines against influenza, pneumococcus, herpes zoster and diphtheria-tetanus for this group in Spain, but it is expected that it will be expanded to include more vaccines in the future.
However, the document notes that there are still unresolved issues that need to be addressed by medical groups, scientific researchers and government managers. Age-related immune senescence and other comorbidities such as obesity may negatively influence immune responses induced by vaccination. Besides, Unequal access to vaccines, regulatory barriers, logistical challenges arising from supply and/or distribution issues, and the saturation of primary care, where most vaccination campaigns are centralized, merit analysis in search of solutions.
To try to address these new challenges, a group of experts advocates for continued Promoting a culture of authority and trust around vaccination through education and citizen training campaigns.
It is also necessary to strengthen health education and healthy lifestyles among the population, improve the life experience of patients and make them feel involved in decision-making, and involve health workers in this process. Finally, experts are calling for increased investment, as well as better structures and coordination of vaccination initiatives. “Only in this way can we ensure that vaccination throughout life becomes a routine medical practice from which all people can benefit.”
Inflection point
The past pandemic was a turning point for authors, noted “before” and “after” in the history of vaccination, opening an unprecedented window of opportunity through the use of new technologies such as the mRNA method.
On the other hand, the health crisis has shown that viruses know no borders even in the context of globalization with continuous migration movements Vaccines, for both humans and animals, have become a fundamental protective shield. especially against viral and/or zoonotic diseases that are spreading faster and faster. In addition, general information and education on vaccines and their development, as well as transparency in pre- and post-marketing safety surveillance, have contributed to an increased vaccination culture among both health care workers and the general population.
In particular, the pandemic has led to increased public awareness of the effectiveness of vaccination, as well as a shift in the demographic paradigm that could place greater emphasis on adult vaccination, which until now has been much less developed than childhood vaccination.
Transition to “lifelong vaccination”“This is necessary,” experts explain, “because among the adult population there are groups of the population whose quality of life could improve due to the potential of the vaccine: people living with chronic pathologies, living with or having suffered from cancer or other problems.” health conditions that compromise their immune system, institutionalized patients, and older adults with age-related poor immune responses.
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The document “Vaccines – a promising future” was presented this Wednesday in the Mediaset España studio as part of a campaign developed by the business social communications initiative Valor Mediaset España under the motto “Together for Health”.
This joint action aims to highlight the ability of vaccines to protect and prevent infections caused by various pathogens and improve the quality of life of at-risk groups and people with chronic and degenerative diseases, and to increase public awareness of the positive impact of vaccines. constant “training” of the immune system, always supervised by medical professionals, in a healthy life.