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| FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020 | THE STRAITS TIMES | TOPOF THENEWS A11 Coronavirus pandemic Commentary On Covid-19 data, experts may sometimes differ country, perhaps New Zealand, area, swab everyone within a For instance, they disagree on the rush to produce a vaccine, dangers of overseas travel that is controlling the situation very radius. We could be comfortable well, we have seen how quickly the that China is not going to send any vaccines today than we did in the available to us even five years ago we end up being exposed to many situation can change.” (infected person) to Singapore.” past, and a lot of this you can now that we can now use to evaluate different factors that are beyond But Prof Fisher said it need not be So, what the webinar showed was measure by looking at genes, by how safe vaccines could be.” our control, and it could happen on that way if countries are good at that even experts interpret the same looking at how you respond to Prof Teo and Prof Fisher also the plane, it could happen when I’m finding cases and quarantining facts differently. Not surprising vaccines, and that pretty much differed on the dangers of overseas at the hotel, or it could be at the them: “We would be comfortable then, that countries are finding it so predicts its safety”, he said. travel, though both said this is not local tourist attractions. with China because as soon as they tough to deal with the pandemic. He added: “There are a lot of going to resume any time soon. “So even if we do have an get a case, they’re very, very kiasu. Salma Khalik molecular tools now that weren’t Said Prof Teo: “When we go out, arrangement with a partnering “They will lock down the whole [email protected] Senior Health Correspondent Even experts may disagree. Generally, not on major issues, but on interpreting the facts or their assessment of situations. They also see things very differently from the lay public. This was what struck me the most during The Straits Times Covid-19 webinar yesterday. Take vaccines, for example. The whole world is waiting for a viable vaccine so it can protect people and life can return to normal. The experts say no, it’s not a magic bullet. Staying protected requires a combination of a good vaccine, good treatment that reduces severity of the illness, and good social behaviour so fewer people get infected. They also agree that there isn’t going to be a commercially available vaccine any time this year. Where they politely differ from one another is whether this rush for a vaccine is a good thing. Professor Teo Yik Ying, dean of the National University of Singapore’s Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, worries that the first commercially available vaccine may not be the best. But because it is the first, everyone will rush to get it, even if it is “sub-optimal”, for the lack of an alternative. Prof Teo fears that this might compromise the development of better vaccines. Professor Ooi Eng Eong, deputy director of Duke-NUS Medical School’s emerging infectious diseases programme, gave an assurance that there is no fear of that. The pandemic is so big and affects so many countries and people that there is potential for several vaccines to be produced and marketed, he said. So having one on the market will not stop others from completing their development. Professor Dale Fisher, a senior infectious diseases expert at the National University Hospital, said a lot of the vaccine hype is by companies concerned about their bottom lines. He worries about the risk inherent in the rush to get a vaccine out early, as about 130 vaccines in the pipeline vie for market share. Blowing their trumpet at every step helps with the companies’ share prices and in getting funding for their work. But that does not mean the vaccine will work well. “This is what concerns me a lot. That there’ll be a demand to shorten the phase three trials and instead of doing it on 30,000 people, you do it on 2,000 people, rush it through and start producing it. This would be a risk, I would think,” said Prof Fisher, who also chairs the World Health Organisation’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network steering committee. Prof Ooi, who is leading the development of a Covid-19 vaccine by Duke-NUS Medical School and American medicine company Arcturus Therapeutics, disagrees. Yes, the development time for a new vaccine has been shortened from more than a decade to just over a year. But researchers now “understand a lot more about the side effects of The experts say (a vaccine is) not a magic bullet. Staying protected requires a combination of a good vaccine, good treatment that reduces severity of the illness, and good social behaviour... They also agree that there is not going to be a commercially available vaccine any time this year. Where they politely differ... is whether this rush for a vaccine is a good thing..

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