Delivering a COVID-19 vaccine: what happens when one is approved?

Members and foundation staff will hear from Frederik Kristensen, deputy CEO of CEPI

Sciana members and foundation staff will reunite in a special webinar to discuss the next steps once someone delivers a COVID-19 vaccine.

Frederik Kristensen, the deputy CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), has accepted an invitation to provide a keynote lecture during the webinar, which takes place on October 14, 2020.

Kristensen has served as deputy CEO since January 2017 and performs an additional role as director for people, planning, and policy.

The CEPI includes public, private, philanthropic, and civil society organizations. They work together “to accelerate the development of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases and enable equitable access to these vaccines for people during outbreaks.”

Earlier this month, CEPI established a global network of labs to centralise the assessment of COVID-19 vaccine candidates.

Ilona Kickbusch, chair of the Sciana Network, and Mary Helen Pombo, who leads on the development of Sciana will moderate the discussion. Discussants include Sciana members Sarah Anderson, Nora Kronig, and Matthias Wismar.

Questions will include:

• How is policy around the roll-out of a vaccine, following approval by regulators, being made in each of the Sciana countries (Germany, Switzerland and the UK)?
• What are the international dimensions of such policymaking?
• What may be the popular reaction to the offer of a vaccine, given existing anti-vaxx sentiment, perhaps amplified by the compressed timescale for COVID-19 vaccine testing? How should governments respond to citizens’ concerns?

This webinar is the first to take place since members and foundation staff met virtually on June 23 for a discussion titled, “COVID-19 and leadership: lessons for the future?”