73. Vaccines Ahead (with Gagandeep Kang)

Medical Scientist Dr Gagandeep Kang returns to BIC Talks to talk to host Pavan Srinath about the latest news on COVID-19 vaccines, and the road ahead for public vaccination for all Indians. 

It is extraordinary to see not one, but three COVID-19 vaccine candidates announce successful interim results in November. This happened within 10 months of isolating the virus, SARS-CoV-2. Dr Kang shares how these vaccine efficacy trials are designed, how we need to be careful in interpreting the results, and how we can think about the safety of any new vaccine. 

She shares a few answers to COVID-19 related questions that we did not have answers to until recently. She also discusses how vaccine trials in India ought to be conducted, and the challenges that lie ahead for public vaccination programmes.

Dr Gagandeep Kang is Professor of Microbiology at the Wellcome Trust Research Laboratory, Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences at the Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore. 

Dr Kang is a key contributor to the understanding of diarrhoeal diseases, rotavirus epidemiology and vaccinology in India. She is a 2016 Infosys Prize laureate, and became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2019. She is also the Vice Chair for the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness and Innovations (CEPI). 

For further reading and listening:

• [Upcoming Book] Till We Win: India’s Fight Against The Covid-19 Pandemic, by Chandrakant Lahariya, Gagandeep Kang and Randeep Guleria.
• [Article] Doses of Hope, Open Magazine, by Pavan Srinath.
• [Podcast] #8 of BIC Talks: Quest for a Vaccine, with Gagandeep Kang
• [Podcast] #18 of BIC Talks: The Search for a Cure, with Gagandeep Kang

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