The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) invited a number of journalists to visit the ordinarily top-secret scientific laboratories at Porton Down on a rainy day last week.
As we toured the campus of the UKHSA’s Vaccine Development and Evaluation Centre (VDEC), one of the things that struck me was Dr. Bassam Hallis’ reference to the current status of “peacetime” – in stark contrast to the war footing of the Covid pandemic.
Having learned from the years preceding the outbreak of Covid, when the United Kingdom and other governments prepared for a flu pandemic and little else, the UKHSA is preparing for an unidentified aggressor.
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It could be avian flu, or it could be what scientists call “Disease X” – an “unknown unknown” pathogen for which there is no treatment or vaccine.
After being woefully unprepared for the Covid outbreak, as Lady Hallett’s Covid Inquiry is likely to conclude, the UK Government and its scientists are eager to demonstrate that they are prepared for the next outbreak.
Despite the fact that many individuals would prefer not to think about viruses and infectious diseases again after the past three years, it is reassuring that the efforts to prevent another public health disaster are so vigorous.
Alongside the brand new state-of-the-art VDEC labs at Porton Down, a decades-old building on the campus that was used for, among other things, testing the strength of glass test tubes before it was demolished and renovated in 2020 to provide additional capacity to deal with Covid will remain a focal point of the fight against the next pandemic.
Even though we are presently in “peacetime” – Covid is still infecting people, but the pandemic is technically over – more than 200 scientists are preparing for the next war at the centre. Their labor has not ceased.
