Members of the EATRIS community have published a commentary piece in “Vaccine Insights” about vaccine development during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers, including vaccine developers, continue to reflect on the challenges they faced and overcame together during the pandemic and the improvements necessary for better pandemic preparedness in the future. Now more than ever, the world is recognising the importance of vaccines, and EATRIS has strived to accelerate promising candidates through the R&D pipeline, by offering innovative services to vaccine developers in academic and industry settings.
The publication highlights the EATRIS COVID-19 Research Forum, the advantage of combining tools and expertise across research infrastructures and the lessons learned from across the globe from the pandemic. Research infrastructures have clearly shown that they represent an essential player in accelerated vaccine development. A lot has been done, but there is much more to do.
Lead author, David Morrow (EATRIS Senior Scientific Programme Manager), says the following: “Research infrastructures represent a powerful tool in the fight against infectious disease during a pandemic. We must strive however to learn from what has not worked, and what can work, to ensure pandemic readiness in the near future.”
