COVID-19 Vaccine Development & Implementation Workshop 2021 - February Edition

We are deeply saddened to share that Dr. Charles Boucher, a member of the Organizing Committee of the COVID-19 Vaccine Development & Implementation Workshop 2021 - February Edition, has passed away after a courageous battle with cancer. Read our full memorial >

• Enduring materials are now available on this website.

The workshop on COVID-19 Vaccine Development & Implementation Workshop 2021 - February Edition was held virtually on 16 - 17 February 2021. Please visit the Enduring Materials tab for related slidesets and videos of our faculty to this workshop.

In December, 2019, a novel coronavirus causing severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV- 2) emerged from China and has caused a pandemic involving virtually every country in the world. With over 80 million confirmed cases and more than 1.8 million deaths as of January 2021, it has caused the largest public health crisis of our time.

The enormity of the health and economic burden caused by the pandemic has prompted global action to accelerate research on a preventative vaccine at a scale never seen before. Partnerships among all relevant stakeholders, including governments, the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, academia, NGOs, and philanthropists has resulted in around 200 vaccine candidates that are currently being evaluated worldwide which increases the chances that one or more of them will succeed.

With only one drug being FDA approved in certain hospitalized patients so far and the very beginning of the vaccine roll-out, we are still in the midst of global health crisis where rigorous monitoring, testing, contact tracing, use of masks, social distancing, quarantine or other lockdown restrictions are necessary.

The attempt to find an effective coronavirus vaccine has led to an unprecedented amount of information becoming available in the public domain, from peer-reviewed scientific studies published in leading medical journals to online pre-prints, press reviews and discussions on social media. Now when the vaccine is available it is crucial to have a focus on the facts, what is known and what is yet to be done. There is a need for a program that would not only expertly review emerging data but also discuss how we define an effective vaccine and how to get maximal public health benefit out of the vaccinations.

We proposed a program on COVID-19 vaccines that will range from pathogenesis, what is known about adaptive immunity after infection, the role of neutralizing antibodies and cellular immunity, the current state of the art of vaccine development, and global preparedness for vaccine roll-out. The workshop aimed to provide a global platform to disseminate the latest scientific and advances in the vaccine field. It stimulated discussion and reinforced the interplay of science, community and policy in delivering an effective vaccine to control the COVID-19 pandemic.

We would like to thank everyone who joined this first virtual workshop on vaccine development and implementation of COVID-19.

- The Organizing Committee -

• Update Global Vaccine Situation & Critical Unknowns
• Vaccine Development
• What We Know About Protection
• Vaccine Has Arrived!!!

Get a sneak peek at our lectures

This workshop has been featured in the following media sources:

• The Well Project: https://bit.ly/3cvPv2J
• AME Press Release: https://bit.ly/3eDLrjw

Download and help spread the word

Media representatives interested in attending this program are invited to view detailed information under the "Registration" tab.