FPH UI Guest Lecture with the theme “COVID-19 Pandemics and Vaccines: Challenges and Lessons Learned”

Monday, September 11, 2023, the Faculty of Public Health (FPH) Universitas Indonesia (UI) again held a guest lecture with the theme “COVID-19 Pandemics and Vaccines: Challenges and Lessons Learned”. This guest lecture, which was held in a hybrid manner, presented Dr. Carina Joe, Lead Scientist for Large-Scale Manufacturing for Oxford AZ COVID-19 Vaccine, as speaker.

“In the last 3 years, the world has experienced an extraordinary different situation because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, the COVID-19 pandemic has made the role of public health even more real. “There are many lessons we can take from this global pandemic,” said Dr. Ir. Asih Setiarini, M.Sc., Deputy Dean for Education, Research and Student Affairs FPH UI in his speech.

Since 2010, the world has experienced the Decade of Vaccines. In the last 10 years, the world has experienced significant developments in the field of vaccination. Moreover, with the Global Vaccine Action Plan in 2011-2020, “Vaccination is the most cost-effective health intervention. “The COVID-19 pandemic that occurred yesterday did bring many disasters, but at the same time it brought many benefits in the world of vaccines,” said Dr. Joe. The COVID-19 pandemic has made vaccines more popular among ordinary people. Most people have become more aware of vaccinations. Apart from that, the COVID-19 pandemic has also accelerated the duration of clinical trials and the development of mRNA vaccine technology.

Furthermore, Dr. Carina Joe shares her experience while developing the AstraZenecca vaccine. Vaccine development starts from the clinical research stage, then phase 1, 2, 3 trials, until finally obtaining a vaccine product license. The AstraZenecca vaccine itself was produced for 564 days, from January 2020 to July 2021. The main problem encountered when producing the AstraZenecca vaccine was the lack of capacity to produce the vaccine on a large scale. This made Dr. Carina Joe and the team had to collaborate with multi-partners. “As a result, we were able to produce more than 3 billion vaccine doses from previously only thousands of doses,” said Dr. Joe.

Dr. Carina Joe also provided several recommendations that can be made to improve the quality of vaccine production. The first is to simplify the virus seed production process. Apart from that, it is also recommended that countries have laboratories that are ready to produce vaccines on a large scale. It is also recommended that the vaccine formulation produced be stable at room temperature. “Preparedness is needed from the government of every country to be able to handle future health challenges better,” concluded Dr. Carina Joe.

Apart from giving public lectures, FPH UI also invited Dr. Carina Joe for exploratory discussions on collaboration. In this discussion, Prof. Dr. Mondastri Korib Sudaryo M.S., D.Sc.; Prof. Dr. Dr. Sudarto Ronoatmodjo, S.K.M., M.Sc.; Prof. Dr. Asri C. Adisasmita, M.P.H., M.Phil., Ph.D.; Prof. Indri Hapsari Susilowati, S.K.M., M.K.K.K., Ph.D.; Dr. Dr. Tri Yunis Miko Wahyono, M.Sc.; as well as dr. Lhuri Dwianti Rahmartani, M.Epid., D.Phil. In the discussion, Dr. Carina Joe said that potential collaborative activities with FPH UI in the near future include providing guest lectures and supervising doctoral students who are conducting research in the area of vaccine manufacturing and technology. This is a great opportunity for FPH UI to gain knowledge sharing directly from experts. (WR)