University of Auckland: Sir Peter Gluckman on global Covid mapping panel
Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, the President-elect of the International Science Council (ISC) from the University of Auckland, joins epidemiologist Professor Sir David Skegg of the University of Otago as part of an oversight panel for the recently launched ISC Covid-19 Scenarios Project.
The panel was announced in the world-leading medical journal The Lancet in a commentary, ‘Future scenarios for the Covid-19 pandemic’, co-authored by Sir Peter and Sir David, and panel members Geoffrey Boulton, Heide Hackmann, Salim Abdool Karim, Peter Piot, and Christiane Woopen.
The panel of international science leaders also includes representatives from the World Health Organization, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), an advisor to President Biden’s Covid-19 advisory board and other microbiologists and epidemiologists.
Within eight months, the panel will report on the possible Covid-19 scenarios the world faces over the next three to five years, and on the choices for governments, agencies, and citizens.
Sir Peter, who heads Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures hosted by the Faculty of Arts at the University of Auckland, initiated the ISC project. He says decisions made by governments and individuals over coming months will impact on how the world recovers from the pandemic over the next three to five years.
A nationalistic approach is not only morally wrong, but it could also delay any return to a level of normality – such as relaxed border controls. No country can be safe until all are safe.
Sir Peter Gluckman
Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures, Faculty of Arts
“At some stage the world will be dealing with a low level of endemic virus infection and global economic and social life will be recovering, but how we get there depends on many decisions by governments and individuals.
“While vaccines offer much hope, the battle against the virus is not yet close to being won. Different countries are in very different stages of the pandemic, the virus evolves, and access to vaccines and gaining effective lasting immunity will be a challenge in many countries. Yet the virus knows no borders.”
Sir David Skegg thinks the chief value of the project will be to encourage governments and health policy makers to think about long-term outcomes.
“There are a number of possible scenarios as to how this pandemic will progress over the next few years. In the throes of a pandemic, it is natural to be making decisions about immediate priorities. But it is essential that there is also awareness about how those decisions will affect the ultimate outcome,” he says.
Sir Peter says while many people view vaccines as the light at the end of the tunnel, unless there is massive international cooperation and a concerted global approach to vaccine availability, distribution and delivery, the world could face years of disruption.
“A nationalistic approach is not only morally wrong, but it could also delay any return to a level of normality – such as relaxed border controls. No country can be safe until all are safe.”
In the commentary, the authors say the virus may continue to mutate which may accelerate transmission and reduce vaccine effectiveness, while naive assumptions about herd immunity, given the appearance of new and challenging variants of the virus, could seriously risk repeated outbreaks and recurrences.
The virus can probably never be globally eradicated, because of its presence in many animals (including cats and dogs), and incomplete vaccine coverage and protection, they say.
“With such uncertainties, we should not assume that recent scientific progress on Covid-19 diagnostics, vaccines, and treatments will end the pandemic. The world is likely to have many more years of Covid-19 decision making ahead – there is no quick solution available at present. The decisions of global agencies and governments, as well as the behaviours of citizens in every society, will greatly affect the journey ahead.”