COVID-19 recovery requires global response from public and private sector
Recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic will be a global task requiring international collaboration, say experts in a new policy briefing and lecture, as they warn of repercussions for years to come. Professor Sir Roy Anderson of Imperial College London spoke about how to end the COVID-19 pandemic in his 2021 Royal Pharmaceutical Society/UCL School of Pharmacy New Year lecture Tuesday night. The accompanying policy briefing was led by Professor David Taylor (UCL School of Pharmacy). Professor Taylor and colleagues commented on vaccination policy in the briefing, and expressed support for the UK government's strategy to allow up to 12 weeks between the first and second dose of the vaccine, writing that the fastest possible vaccine rollout is the "most obvious national priority." The briefing also describes the important role of community pharmacies in ramping up vaccine and testing capacity, while also increasing public access to other clinical services. Professor Taylor said: "The COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the importance of universities, professional groups and other public and private sector organisations such as pharmaceutical companies working together in new ways to achieve common goals. In Britain this will be all the more important in future years as the country seeks to recover from the impacts of COVID-19 and faces the economic and social challenges of leaving the EU." The keynote speaker, Professor Anderson, is one of the scientists who first generalised the concept of the basic reproductive number, R0, in infectious disease epidemiology in the 1970s and 80s, to define how quickly infections will spread with and without interventions.
