In the time of dramatic pandemic developments, science-based and credible information is crucial. The European Science-Media Hub looks for the opinion of leading virologists and experts from different European countries. What do we know about the spread of the virus? What are the best strategies to fight the epidemic? Which lessons can we learn? What is the experience in different European countries? Read our interviews with experts from Italy, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, the UK and other countries.
COVID-19 interviews
Prof. Wayne Koff : ‘AI can help us design better, safer and faster vaccines’
Wayne Koff, PhD, is the founding president and Chief Executive Officer of the Human Vaccines Project. Human Vaccines Project Prior to joining the Project, from 1999 to 2016, Koff served as Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice President of Research and Development at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) in New York City, leading IAVI’s ...
Professor Heidi Larson: “This is a key moment to build trust in countries and socio-economic groups with relatively low confidence in vaccines.”
For over a decade, Heidi Larson, Professor of Anthropology, Risk and Decision Science at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, has been leading global efforts to monitor public confidence in immunisation programmes. As COVID-19 vaccination programmes are rolled out across the EU, this is a key moment to build trust in countries and ...
Peter Piot interview: The pandemic has catapulted science to the forefront of policy-making
Interview with Peter Piot, Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Special Advisor to the President of the European Commission on the response to the coronavirus and COVID-19: how science has been feeding into policy-making? What does your role as EU special advisor on COVID-19 entail? Peter Piot: I am part ...
Prof. Elias Mossialos: “Transparency is vital to the management of responses to health crises”
Interview on COVID-19 with Professor Elias Mossialos, Brian Abel-Smith Professor of Health Policy, Head of the Department of Health Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Director of LSE Health, UK, and Chief Adviser to the Greek Government on the COVID-19 pandemic. How was Greece’s successful COVID-19 response organised? Elias ...
Balancing the risks: Dr Nathalie MacDermott on lockdown easing and the UK perspective
Dr Nathalie MacDermott is a clinical lecturer at King’s College London, sub-specialising in paediatric infectious diseases in the NHS. She also has significant experience in medical response to disaster and epidemic situations in Africa and Asia Some countries in Europe, including the UK, have begun easing their lockdown restrictions. In what ways can lockdowns be ...
Prof Emmanuel André, the voice behind the fight against Covid-19 in Belgium
Prof Emmanuel André, former spokesman of the federal crisis centre, has supported Belgian citizens since the beginning of the lockdown by informing them daily on the evolution of the pandemic. He is now responsible for organising the tracing to help eradicate the propagation of the pandemic and devotes his energy to the community during this ...
Carla Nunes: “If we can keep treating properly the sick ones and protect vulnerable people, let’s ease the lockdown”
Interview on the Portuguese response to COVID-19 pandemic with Carla Nunes, statistician and epidemiologist. Carla Nunes is the Director of the National School of Public Health, at Nova University of Lisbon (Portugal), and the Coordinator of the COVID-19 Barometer project, which analyses the evolution of the pandemic in Portugal. What did Portugal do so differently, ...
Vaccine perspectives for COVID-19 – Interview with Prof. Rino Rappuoli & Prof. Sarah Gilbert
Covid-19 urges policy makers and the big pharma to fasten vaccine developments and possible treatments for the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. Will the vaccine be specific to Covid-19 only, or will it be suitable for all SARS coronaviruses? Will it be suitable to all ages? What are the greatest challenges of vaccine production processes and why does it take so long?