“You can't panic”: Russian virologist talks about COVID-19 and the development of a universal vaccine

- Virology has suddenly become one of the most popular areas of science. What should we know about SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, a dangerous infectious disease, COVID-19?

- There is a phrase that should now become a slogan: the epidemic has two helpers - panic and sloppiness. We must not succumb to either panic or sloppiness.

A total of 39 coronaviruses are known. Some of them circulate in our population absolutely safely, others infect people. It is they who cause the spring cold, from which everyone suffers in the demi-season. The carriers of such viruses can be animals, for example bats.

In this case, the virus, after passing through several carriers, adapts. This means that the symptoms are getting milder and the mortality rate is lower.

- How is SARS-2 different from other viruses in general and coronaviruses in particular? What do you think about the possibility of artificially creating such a virus?

- A feature of SARS-2 is a long incubation period - on average about five days, but it can also take longer. This is not comparable to ordinary flu, in which this figure is about two to three days.

Like many other colleagues, I do not find anything man-made in the genetic sequences of this virus.

Yes, he copes with the immune system of children worse than older people. The latter more often become its victims, but the reason here is not only the virus itself, but also the totality of health problems that accumulate with age. To say that in the case of coronavirus there is some kind of programming against the elderly is incorrect.

• AGN "Moscow"
• © Alexander Avilov

- Various cases of the course of COVID-19 are described: from a mild form to a deadly one, with a sharp deterioration in health. Why such difference? Is it immune related? Or are there some varieties of the virus due to which the disease proceeds differently?

- You can become infected with a virus that went through several people and as a result weakened. And you can - directly from peddlers, for example from a bat. How the disease will proceed can depend on this.

- It is reported not only about people who have recovered and gained immunity, but also about cases of reinfection. Why is this happening? Are several waves of the virus waiting for us?

- There was information in the media about re-infection, but there was no scientific confirmation of this fact. It is known that immunity is produced, and this is good. As for the waves of the virus, it is quite possible. Like any respiratory infection, it goes in waves.

As a rule, all such diseases pass in the spring, and end in the summer. The question is whether people will get sick in the fall. To do this, the virus must wait somewhere, as the flu virus does in waterfowl.

“Why was humanity not ready for the threat?”

- There was a transition of the virus from animal to man, he overcame the interspecific barrier. It is unfortunate that the states currently do not have reserve universal vaccines, which should be in case of emergency situations like this. It happened because each virus is individual, it was impossible to foresee, to calculate.

“ Dozens of laboratories are already doing the vaccine, but manufacturing, clinical trials and mass production take months. How to stop the epidemic?

- It is very important to create a universal vaccine. This is exactly what our biological faculty of Moscow State University is doing now. It should be in reserve by the state. Such a reserve vaccine will protect us from epidemiological outbreaks like this. The university is engaged in a recombinant vaccine that will protect against several coronaviruses at once, including SARS-2.

Those same Americans, for example, are now testing the vaccine only against COVID-19. They have already begun clinical trials. And we are developing a comprehensive drug against a number of coronaviruses - a universal vaccine. It will take several months to create a prototype vaccine.

- Is it possible, due to the emergency situation, to skip some stages in order to get the result faster?

- Yes, we are trying to agree with the supervisory authorities about this. Russian vaccine developers would like this very much. Moreover, it is necessary to create several vaccines in parallel, several approaches should be developed. Tests will show which one is better and will go into series.

- Do you follow the development of vaccines in China and other countries? How open are foreign colleagues in such cases? Do scientists help each other, or does work pass secretly, in an atmosphere of competition?

- International cooperation cannot be taken seriously. Ultimately, it will be expressed in the fact that our partners will offer to buy a vaccine from them when they develop it.