A universal Covid Vaccine19 Feb 2021 11:45
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EDITORIAL
A universal coronavirus vaccine
Wayne C. Koff1?, Seth F. Berkley2?
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'Science 19 Feb
COVID 19 has already produced catastrophic social, economic, and public health consequences, with more than 107 million documented cases and 2.3 million deaths. Although this pandemic is far from over, we now have the tools to end it, with the largest and most rapid global deployment of vaccines underway. That we got this far so quickly is remarkable, but next time we might not be so lucky. More virulent and deadly coronaviruses are waiting in the wings. Thus, the world needs a universal coronavirus vaccine.
The speed with which safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines have been developed and made available is unprecedented, taking less than a year. However, if faced with a more virulent strain with a higher case fatality rate than severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), even this rapid time frame may not be enough to prevent a death toll on the scale of the 1918 influenza pandemic, which killed more than 50 million. Moreover, there is a continuing risk that the virus will mutate in ways that render existing COVID-19 vaccines less effective—as we've already seen for the B.1.351 variant first identified in South Africa—or even ineffective.
As with influenza, the case for a vaccine that protects all people against all forms of coronavirus is strong. SARS-CoV-2 belongs to a diverse group of viruses of which there are thousands capable of infecting a wide range of animals, from bats and pangolins to pigs and mink. SARS-CoV-1, which emerged in 2002, had a 10% fatality rate; Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in 2012 was 34% fatal.'
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/371/6531/759
pressure is on... we know one potential candidate
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