Follow Nature. Japan Falling behind other countries not only in developing vaccines but also approving them when COVID-19. As the publication pointed out, Japan’s three most advanced COVID-19 vaccine candidates are still in clinical trials. To avoid repetition, the country establish The Strategic Center for Biomedical Advanced Vaccine Research and Development for Preparedness and Response (SCARDA) returns in March.
SCARDA’s central research center will be based in Tokyo, but it will be supported by four core institutes, namely Osaka University, Nagasaki University, Hokkaido University and Chiba University. The $2 billion funding is supposed to last for five years. $1.2 billion will go toward the center’s vaccine research and development projects, while $400 million will be spent on supporting drug development startups. Another $400 million will go toward setting up a network of research centers across the country, as well as towards vaccine testing.
SCARDA will initially focus on developing vaccines against eight infectious diseases, including COVID-19, monkeypox, SARS, dengue, and Zika virus. Its researchers will also look at different types of vaccine technology, such as mRNA and viral vectors. The center aims to “find the seeds for future vaccines”, but its ultimate goal is to be able to create diagnostic tests, vaccines and treatments. within 100 days identify pathogens that have the potential to become pandemics.
The UK government has for the first time proposed a 100-day response target, based on what it has learned from COVID-19. “The first 100 days in the face of a pandemic or epidemic threat are critical to changing its course and, ideally, preventing it from becoming a pandemic,” the UK wrote in pandemic preparedness report to G7. According to the World Health Organization, it record more than 2.5 million cases and 200,000 deaths 100 days after the country declared COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern. A quick response from the start can prevent those numbers from getting even higher.
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