The world should do more now to prepare for future pandemics, said Sarah Gilbert, one of the inventors of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.

       “This will not be the last time a virus threatens our lives and our livelihoods,” Gilbert said as she delivered the 44th Richard Dimbleby Lecture, an annual address by an influential figure that will be aired Monday on the BBC. Gilbert is a professor of vaccinology at Oxford University. “The truth is, the next one could be worse. It could be more contagious, or more lethal, or both.”

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       “We cannot allow a situation where we have gone through all we have gone through, and then find that the enormous economic losses we have sustained mean that there is still no funding for pandemic preparedness,” Gilbert said, echoing earlier calls for more proactive funding for scientific research.

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       Gilbert touted industry and government speed in responding to the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 by quickly developing and deploying coronavirus vaccines, and she said it could be a model for other diseases. “Just as we invest in armed forces and intelligence and diplomacy to defend against wars, we must invest in people, research, manufacturing and institutions to defend against pandemics,” she said.

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       Like other scientists from around the world, Gilbert said existing vaccines may be less effective against the omicron variant of the coronavirus; but while infections may become more common, that doesn’t mean hospitalizations and deaths will increase.