Sir Patrick Vallance was, however, optimistic about the Pandemic Preparedness Treaty that the World Heath Organisation is advocating for to foster an all-of-government and all-of-society approach, strengthening national, regional and global capacities and resilience against future pandemics.
Sir Patrick Vallance, the British government’s chief scientific adviser during the COVID-19 pandemic, has warned that another pandemic is inevitable.
“What is absolutely inevitable is there will be another pandemic,” The Independent news site quoted him as saying, adding, “And we’re not ready yet.”
The Independent newspaper quoted the senior scientist as saying that pandemics to be planned in the way wars are planned for. “I don’t think we’re treating it in the way that we treat, for example, the armed forces. We know we have to have an army, not because there’s going to be a war this year, but because it’s an important part of what we need as a nation. We need to treat this preparedness [for a pandemic] in the same way, and not to view it as an easy thing to keep cutting back when there’s no sign of one.”
Speaking at a panel discussion during the Hay Festival, Sir Patrick said: “Are we ready for another pandemic? The answer is no.”
Detailing on areas for improvement, The Independent quoted him as saying, “We (the UK) need better surveillance to be able to pick these things up,” he said. “We need to be much faster, much more aligned. And there are ways to do this – getting rapid diagnostic tests, rapid vaccines, rapid treatments – so that you don’t have to go into the extreme measures that took place last time.”
Vallance regretted that governments thought that the worst of the pandemics was behind them. “By 2023 the G7 had sort of forgotten about it,” he said, adding, “You can’t forget about it in two years.”
The UK government’s former chief scientific adviser until last year had a tumultuous relationship with the country’s former Prime Minister Boris Johnson on how to handle the COVID-19 pandemic. He was a strong proponent of a nationwide lockdown, which Johnson did not agree with, eventually allowing the pandemic to sweep through all of UK unabated.
He was, however, optimistic about the Pandemic Preparedness Treaty that the World Heath Organisation (WHO) is advocating for to foster an all-of-government and all-of-society approach, strengthening national, regional and global capacities and resilience against future pandemics. “I’m optimistic for this so-called ‘100 Day Mission’ to get diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines,” he said. “But it needs political will to drive that forward, and I’m concerned that that’s going to get lost quite quickly.”
