Updates
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted tens of millions of people, overwhelming healthcare systems and disrupting societies and economies. It illustrates what can happen when a pathogen escapes human control, and highlights the importance of timely, accurate information to guide global response efforts, research and development, and public health policies.
A pathogen’s potential for a pandemic depends on the balance of its case fatality, transmissibility and mutation rates. Those characteristics may increase with societal trends such as urbanization and climate change, which bring humans and animals in closer contact and facilitate their exchange of viruses and pathogens via animal-to-human transmission (zoonotic spillover) and airborne spread20. Additionally, RNA viruses have the ability to evolve rapidly, increasing their chances of a pandemic21.
While the COVID-19 outbreak was a novel challenge, the world had experience with other pandemics and preparedness efforts in the past. Lessons learned from the COVID-19 response and previous influenza pandemics, including the 1918 pandemic, can inform preparations for the next pandemic. As in the past, the world may rely heavily on non-pharmaceutical interventions during a pandemic, and it will likely need to rapidly deploy stockpiled medical countermeasures, including vaccines, or develop and produce new ones. However, a successful global response will require timely, accurate and comprehensive information that can guide responses across a broad range of sectors, from disease surveillance and testing to social distancing and economic support. This article discusses key lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic to help enhance global pandemic preparedness, with a particular focus on vaccines.