Discussion on the route of vaccines

With the intention of showing the process of creating vaccines, in addition to opening a space for dialogue exchange to address myths and truths about them, City of Knowledge and La Prensa held the webinar “The route of vaccines”.

The event began with words from the moderator and Executive President of the City of Knowledge Foundation, Jorge Arosemena, who highlighted that "this discussion has distinguished experts on the subject to share their knowledge about the importance of vaccines."

Dr. Eduardo Ortega, Vice President and Director of Medical Affairs and Research at GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines, explained during his presentation the stages of developing a vaccine. "Vaccines are preventive and are used in healthy people, it is a process that takes many years, but very important to prevent the spread of diseases," he stressed.

Dr. Argentina Ying, Member of the City of Knowledge Advisory Committee and President of the National Bioethics Committee, spoke about the challenges that exist around the creation of bioethics committees for vaccine research, always guaranteeing Human Rights and security before everything.

For her part, Dr. Digna Wong from INDICASAT took the opportunity to explain how candidates are chosen to participate in a vaccine trial and the expectation in Panama for phase 2 studies of a vaccine against COVID-19.

"The technical group of scientists from the World Health Organization guarantees the safety of vaccines through a very meticulous and rigorous method," commented Dr. Dilsa Lara, PAHO / WHO consultant on immunizations. And added that "a vaccine that does not meet all the criteria and is not 100% safe will not be authorized."

For Dr. Juan Miguel Pascale, Director of the Gorgas Institute, "the scientific community is watching the development of the vaccine against COVID-19 and wants them to be safe and effective." Pascale was in charge of explaining how the investigations work in Panama regarding vaccines and what does science tell us about vaccine safety.

“This pandemic has brought great calamities, but it has brought us closer and gives us an opportunity for us as a society to be more participatory within the country and in the consortium of Nations. We must be more supportive and trust science to improve our lives”, concluded Professor Arosemena.