Vaccines Summit 2021
September 20-22
Current ‘progress’ in the vaccine field is largely based on new technologies such as those involved in novel manufacturing processes or in big data mining (-omics) enabling molecular analysis of immunorelevant genes and immune signalling pathways. However, much less progress has been made in our fundamental understanding of host-pathogen interactions and immune subversive mechanisms which pathogenic agents have evolved to escape natural mechanisms of host immune defence. As a result, selection of vaccinal antigens still largely relies on naturally induced immune responses that correlate with recovery from acute disease caused by specific pathogens. The immune responses these antigens induce are restricted by antigenic variability of the pathogen and/ or the immuno-genetic background of the host. Immune responses induced by contemporary vaccines are, therefore, prone to immune escape. Natural selection of immune escape variants is even more likely to occur when individuals exerting suboptimal immune pressure have a high chance of becoming exposed to circulating virus. Provided widespread immune selection pressure, these immune escape variants will even be able to adapt to the rising immune status of the vaccinated population. This already explains why classical vaccines fail to prevent variants from arising and further evolving when mass vaccination campaigns are conducted in populations that are continuously exposed to the circulating virus, a situation which typically occurs during a pandemic. Under these conditions, the effect of these vaccines is simply ‘too little’ and comes ‘too late’ to prevent evolving variants from circumventing vaccine-elicited immunity.
Geert Vanden Bossche received his DVM from the University of Ghent, Belgium, and his PhD degree in Virology from the University of Hohenheim, Germany. He held adjunct faculty appointments at universities in Belgium and Germany. After his career in Academia, Geert joined several vaccine companies (GSK Biologicals, Novartis Vaccines, Solvay Biologicals) to serve various roles in vaccine R&D as well as in late vaccine development.
Geert then moved on to join the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Health Discovery team in Seattle (USA) as Senior Program Officer; he then worked with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) in Geneva as Senior Ebola Program Manager. At GAVI he tracked efforts to develop an Ebola vaccine. He also represented GAVI in fora with other partners, including WHO, to review progress on the fight against Ebola and to build plans for global pandemic preparedness.
Back in 2015, Geert scrutinized and questioned the safety of the Ebola vaccine that was used in ring vaccination trials conducted by WHO in Guinea. His critical scientific analysis and report on the data published by WHO in the Lancet in 2015 was sent to all international health and regulatory authorities involved in the Ebola vaccination program. After working for GAVI, Geert joined the German Center for Infection Research in Cologne as Head of the Vaccine Development Office. He is at present primarily serving as a Biotech / Vaccine consultant while also conducting his own research on Natural Killer cell-based vaccines.
Email: info@voiceforscienceandsolidarity.org
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