WS 07 - Novel Vaccine Platforms for Emerging Pandemics and Existing Epidemics

COVID-19 has not only reminded us of the devastating threat of pandemics. It has also documented the profound value of vaccines for effective intervention. It took less than 12 months to develop vaccines for COVID-19 from drawing board to deployment. This speed is without precedent. It was only possible because of: unlimited funding both from private and public resources and availability of platforms for rapid design of novel vaccine types, notably RNA vaccines and viral-vectored vaccines. In the future, novel vaccine platforms will play an increasing role in rapid defeat of newly emerging pandemics and provide the basis for renewed attempts to combat existing epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and Hepatitis C for which effective vaccines are still not available. This workshop will discuss novel vaccine platforms (RNA vaccines, viral-vectored vaccines) and adjuvants for improved subunit vaccines and their value for better interventions of communicable diseases as well as ways to accelerate development and deployment of novel vaccines.