Global government officials, technical experts virtually address vaccine development, equitability and more

A virtual event organized by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research last week pulled in government officials and technical experts to address the best means of accelerating development and availability of vaccines.

While COVID-19 hung over the event, the development discussed was actually for future pandemic threats. Together with the Munich Security Conference, organizers hosted nine government figures and nine experts in all for a forum and exercise that, among other items, put equitable access front and center.

Other important desires included guarantees of sustainable, accessible, and appropriate financing, along with building capacity for development and manufacturing in advance of disaster to not be met with the same bottlenecks and supply chain woes that have plagued the current pandemic.

Participants started with a fictional tabletop scenario designed to push vaccine visions in the shortest time frame. This was followed by a roundtable discussion on the measures.

The event was arranged as part of the German G7 presidency and included as an official side event of the 2022 Munich Security Conference. As such, access was kept restricted to certain individuals.