We need a ‘Big Science’ approach for developing corona vaccines

As more and more countries expand their testing for Covid-19, from testing for diagnosis and frontline medical staff to the worried well, the surge in demand for test kits has led to global shortages that have left some countries racing to secure supplies. If the world doesn’t get organised, the same will be true of Covid-19 vaccines. More than 62 candidate vaccines are currently in development, but without global coordination, there is a danger that we could end up facing immediate shortages and a vaccine that is merely the first to be approved, rather than the most effective or safest.

We need to set aside nationalistic and financial interests when tackling Covid-19. Instead, we need a global, publicly funded, ‘Big Science’ approach that encourages collaboration and the sharing of information and resources. Like the Human Genome Project, the Large Hadron Collider and other Big Science projects, this approach would allow the world to make significant advances more quickly and efficiently than could be achieved through piecemeal efforts.