Associate Professor Joanna Kirman, an immunologist, speaks to media about the feasibility of vaccine development. Dr Kirman, an expert on vaccines, has been involved in the development of the rotavirus vaccine and her own speciality is the BCG vaccine. Here she gives her professional opinion and answers questions about timelines, upscaling, clinical trials and efficacy of a potential coronavirus vaccine and what is means for the ongoing pandemic.
Professor Miguel Quiñones-Mateu speaks to 1 NEWS about the race to find a vaccine for COVID-19. "We cannot sit on the sideline. We cannot wait for everybody else to do the job. We have to do it ourselves. Once we know we have a winner, just forget about the other ones and go for that one,” says Dr Quiñones-Mateu.
Associate Professor Jo Kirman explains to RNZ, "Our immune system vs coronavirus: I think of it as an orchestra, and there's lots of different instruments playing and they all work together to make the music." The instruments in the immune orchestra have names like phagocytes, T cells and B cells, and together they help the human body repel invaders such as bacteria and viruses, including the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
A high-security Physical Containment Laboratory (PC3) at the University of Otago’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology, is undertaking research to isolate and grow SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, with samples taken from infected individuals. It’s the only lab growing and directly working on the novel coronavirus in NZ.
POSTPONED UNTIL A LATER DATE: A panel of experts from the University of Otago will present on all aspects of COVID-19 during a symposium hosted by the Webster Centre for Infectious Diseases. The presentation will be available by livestream. Archway 3 Lecture Theatre, Union Street.
Dunedin will soon become a key national centre for research into the virus that causes Covid-19 infections, thanks partly to a rare, high-level containment laboratory housed by the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Otago.
