Nearly two years after Covid-19 was first detected in Wuhan, the world is still very much in a pandemic. The toughest phase may behind us, but we are still faced with the possibility of new variants of concern, waning immunity and vaccine evasion. As first-generation vaccines start to show their weaknesses, next-generation vaccines are becoming more and more important. While hundreds of vaccines are in the pipeline, there are a few frontrunners and other interesting candidates that might be...

As the world tries to take a hold over the delta variant, we're all watching and waiting to see if the virus is going to evolve into something new. There are fears that natural selection could potentially yield a new variant that will completely escape all of our current vaccines. While these scenarios are hypothetical, experts discuss the need to be vigilant and prepared without unnecessary panic. Experts unpack the virus' evolution so far into delta and how that has impacted our goals for...

As governments around the world try to get their countries and economies back on track, they are starting to desperately implement a number of vaccine policies that have sometimes been questioned by society and scientists. In this episode, experts discuss the rationale around boosters, who should get them, when they are the most effective and the problems around offering third doses to individuals when many vulnerable people around the globe are still fighting for their first. Experts also...

Vaccination in children has fueled a global expert debate specifically around the risk benefit consideration that some may find acceptable and others may find questionable. While children were largely protected from the virus early on in the pandemic, we've come to a point where children are getting sick, some of them severely ill and dying. Experts discuss the changing risks of Covid in kids and how the benefits of vaccination in kids measure up versus potential adverse events. We first look...

With around 7 billion doses administered, the vaccines have largely been proven safe, but there are still major concerns around rare serious side-effects and long term safety unknowns. Experts discuss how safety events have been picked up via public reporting systems -- which have been both a help and a hindrance for the safety discussion -- and how they are being further analyzed. Experts breakdown real world data and the occurrence of rare serious adverse events including VITT (with the...

Since the last episode in February, a lot has happened with the vaccination rollout -- so we're back for a few more episodes. But we've changed our name from The CoVax Files to The Vax Files, which was was done mainly to avoid any confusion with GAVI/WHO's COVAX facility and also to maintain our independence from any official organization. As we approach the end of 2021 and almost 7 billion administered vaccine doses, we now have a good chunk of real world effectiveness data available....

In this final and tenth episode, we'll tackle some of the last lingering questions that we all have around the vaccines and how the future might look as we navigate these uncharted pandemic waters. Experts first discuss new interim datasets from Johnson and Johnson and Novavax, notably their results on preventing severe disease, hospitalizations and deaths, and how they might fit into the vaccine paradigm. We'll break down why some EU countries have made the surprise recent decision not to...

In this ninth episode, we'll tackle the different conundrums we face with the emergence of new and highly transmissible SARS-COV-2 variants. Get ready to delve into some thought provoking scientific concepts when it comes to how this virus appears to be evolving and where we stand with our current and future vaccination goals. The episode parses out the most worrisome mutations, how they were able to evolve and why they are such a concern. Experts talk about recent data from Johnson &...

In this eighth episode, The Covax Files takes a mini world tour on some mass vaccinations programs that started in December 2020 and January 2021.  Surani speaks to experts in different regions to get a taste of what has been happening on the ground with rollouts in the US, Europe, Israel and India, and the unique strengths and challenges within each region. While the US is facing issues with simply getting vaccinations sites set up to deliver a huge supply of vaccines to patients, the EU is...

In this seventh episode, experts discuss how the vaccine gets from the manufacturers gate into a patient’s arm and all the challenges in between. The episode looks at how transportation and storage has been planned and executed by the big international transportation players thus far. While there have been some pleasant surprises with smooth deliveries in some western countries, getting the vaccine to lower income countries will remain an ongoing challenge. Freezer storage capacity — both...

In this sixth episode, experts discuss how vaccine development complexities often boil down to the manufacturing process and scaling up to large quantities. We take a look at how manufacturing processes are set up including the use of contract manufacturers (CMOs or CDMOs) that are largely in control of different parts of the production line. Experts also discuss the various pros and cons for the different manufacturing processes of mRNA vaccines, adenoviral vector vaccines, protein subunit...

This fifth episode takes a look at some of the next vaccines in the development pipeline that could be equally important when it comes to ending the pandemic with a selection of different vaccines. We’ll look at some of the challenges to continue ongoing clinical trials now that vaccines are already publicly available. Experts discuss GSK and Sanofi’s recombinant protein vaccine that had some disappointing interim results in December, and they also discuss why Australia's now abandoned...

Adenoviral vector vaccines are seen as the vaccine for the world given that they are cheaper to produce and easier to distribute versus mRNA vaccines. We learn about their development in the lab and challenges that have been overcome, while experts discuss possible roadblocks of pre-existing immunity that may impact future efficacy. While AstraZeneca's confusing interim results get dissected, experts look ahead to results from Johnson & Johnson's single shot vaccine, which could be a...

In this third episode, experts discuss the two big mRNA vaccine breakthroughs from Pfizer/BionTech and Moderna, which now have emergency use authorisations in a number of countries. We hear their first impressions on what the “better than expected” results tell us and how that might translate to durability, protection against severe disease and transmission. They also explore the inevitable challenges around gathering future evidence if people in the placebo group are offered the vaccines....

In this second episode, experts talk about what goes into designing a clinical trial, how they are set up to give answers and where they can be flawed. We'll look at a few key questions about the ongoing Covid-19 vaccine trials including the vaccines being set up to show protection against mild disease versus severe disease and how releasing results early may raise some concerns in how we can interpret the results. Experts also discuss the regulators that approve the vaccines and their tough...

In this introductory episode, Surani speaks to Kent Collier, the independent sponsor of the podcast, about what this series hopes to achieve. This episode sets us up with some foundations on vaccine development, and where we are right now with the current vaccine approaches for Covid-19. We'll also get an understanding from experts on where Covid-19 sits in comparison to SARS in 2003 and the seasonal flu. Experts finally discuss their initial outlook for the future. Guest profiles and...

A new podcast series hosted by investigative healthcare journalist Surani Fernando that dives deep into the Covid-19 vaccine race with experts from around the globe.