Abstract:

More than a year since the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world, global efforts to develop a safe, effective and affordable vaccine against the virus have produced several promising options in many countries in the world, including India.

The development of effective vaccines against the COVID-19 virus is a tremendous victory and is a feat unlike any other in the history of modern science. However, it also brings with it unique challenges to be overcome, namely the formation of policy to channelise public focus on vaccine safety issues, develop procedures for regulation and approval of vaccines, expand national immunization plans in consideration of population demographics and especially at-risk populations, and finally ensuring vaccines are accessible and affordable beyond borders.

Given the current critical juncture, it is of essential importance to discuss the National Process of Vaccine Policymaking and the role of international institutions, most prominently the World Health Organization (WHO) in helping formulate such policy. This distinguished webinar by Dr. Gagandeep Kang will touch upon how national vaccine policymaking practices can be integrated effectively with global institutional objectives to ensure equitable access to vaccines across the globe.

Speaker’s Bio:

Dr. Gagandeep Kang is a renowned virologist who is currently a Professor of Microbiology at the Wellcome Trust Research Laboratory, Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences at the Madras Christian College. She is also Vice-Chair of the Board of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), an association focused on accelerating the development of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases, and has served on the scientific advisory panels of various national and international institutions such as India’s National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation and the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety.

Between 2016 and 2020, Dr. Kang served as the Executive Director of the Government of India-led Transnational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), where she was closely involved in work related to the testing of an indigenous vaccine against COVID-19. She has pioneered scholarship on rotavirus epidemiology, enteric infections and vaccinology in India, with over three hundred published scientific papers which have helped inform both the scientific community and policy practitioners in the country. She is a recipient of the 2016 Infosys Prize in the Life Sciences and in 2019, became the first Indian woman scientist to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.