Episode 12: The Hunt for a COVID-19 Vaccine

If the world is ever to return to anything like normality, experts agree we need to find a vaccine for Covid-19 as soon as possible. In today’s episode of the Agenda Podcast with Stephen Cole we talk to Jerome Kim, Director General of the International Vaccines Institute in Seoul to find out more. 

He tells us how a vaccine is created and what we can expect in the search for a Covid-19 vaccine [00:51]. Kim also explains the difficulties involved with finding a vaccine and the complications surrounding the distribution of a vaccine [02:13]. Kim is also optimistic about how much we’ve learned about the disease since the outbreak of the crisis. He also sketches out the compressed timeline of when we can expect the vaccine to be tested on humans on a large scale [05:05]. 

I also spoke to Stephen Kissler at the Harvard School of Public Health and Evan H. Bloch from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine about the different therapies being used in the hunt for a Covid-19 vaccine. Stephen Kisslier explains why that while social distancing might be the best course for treating the disease, but is still an incomplete measure in terms of fighting the disease [09:30]. We also learn about plasma transfusions and why this could hold the key to treating Covid-19 [10:50]. 

For more information on Covid-19 check out The Pandemic Playbook, CGTN Europe&aposs major investigation into the lessons learned from COVID-19