COVID-19: The Search for a Vaccine

What are “human challenge” trials, and how might they help in efforts to develop a vaccine against COVID-19? Neil McNeil talks to Kate Bingham, chair of the UK Vaccine Task Force; Peter Openshaw, Professor of Experimental Medicine at Imperial College London, Dr. Andrew Catchpole, Chief Scientific Officer at hVIVO, and Sean Cousins, a volunteer participant in several human challenge trials.

Efforts to develop a vaccine have been underway for months.  For the latest news on when it might arrive – and whether we’ll need more than one - Neil McNeil speaks to Kate Bingham, Chair of the UK Vaccine Task Force; Dr. Helen Horton, Chief Research Officer at Touchlight Genetics Ltd and scientific advisor to the vaccine task force;  Saul Faust, Professor of Paediatric Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the University of Southampton, and Dr. Clive Dix, Vice-Chair of the UK Vaccine Task Force.

Developing a vaccine is one thing, but manufacturing it in very large amounts is a significant challenge in itself.  In this episode, Neil McNeil is joined by Kate Bingham, chair of the UK Vaccine Task Force, Netty England, member of the BIA Manufacturing Advisory Committee, Andy Jones, Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund Medicines Manufacturing Director, and Ian McCubbin, Vaccine Task Force Manufacturing Lead, to find out what’s involved and what’s being done to get ready for large-scale manufacture.

When the pandemic arrived, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities were disproportionally affected – so it’s essential that they’re strongly represented amongst volunteers for vaccine trials.  Neil McNeil is joined by Kate Bingham, chair of the UK Vaccine Task Force, Shamaila Anwar of the NIHR, Dr. Maheshi Ramasamy, Consultant in Infectious Diseases and Acute General Medicine and PI at the Oxford Vaccine Group, and Dr Dinesh Saralaya, Director of the NIHR Patient Recruitment Centre in Bradford.

In the race to protect the world against COVID-19, what is being done to ensure that less well-off countries are not left behind if a successful vaccine is developed? What support is being offered in terms of manufacture, supply, storage and distribution?  What are the challenges in insuring that people in remote regions have access to the vaccine? Neil McNeil speaks to Kate Bingham, chair of the UK Vaccine Task Force, Dr. Melanie Saville, Director of Vaccine Research & Development at The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Jeremy Farrar, Director of Wellcome, and  Saul Walker, Deputy Director - Covid19 Vaccines, Therapeutics and Diagnostics at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

Who should be first in the UK to receive a vaccine against COVID-19?  Who makes that decision, and on what basis?  Neil McNeil talks to Kate Bingham, chair of the UK Vaccine Task Force, Doctor Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisation at Public Health England, and Dr. Na’eem Ahmed of NHS England about the many essential criteria that must be considered before a decision is reached.

In the second episode, Neil McNeil talks to Kate Bingham, chair of the UK Vaccine Task Force, Dr. Jonathan Sheffield, National Institute for Health Research/Department of Health and Social Care COVID-19 Liaison Director for Research, and Dr. Phil Bryan, Head of Vaccine Safety at the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, about how safety is controlled in the process of developing and testing a potential vaccine, and how to communicate with and reassure people who may be reluctant to take a vaccine or volunteer for trials.

In the first episode, Neil McNeil talks to Kate Bingham, Chair of the UK Vaccine Taskforce, and Sir Patrick Vallance, Government Chief Scientific Adviser, about the aims of the Vaccine Taskforce, how the various types of potential vaccine against COVID-19 work, the likelihood of success, the very latest developments, the obstacles to producing a successful vaccine, the steps being taken to make sure any such vaccine is distributed world-wide, and when - if at all – a vaccine might be made available. For more information and for the latest Government guidelines please go to gov.uk/coronavirus Don’t forget to register on www.nhs.uk/coronavirus to sign up to be contacted for coronavirus vaccine research. This series was produced by Sophie King