The scientific advancements brought about by the coronavirus pandemic have sparked “massive optimism” about tackling other deadly diseases, according to Professor Luke O’Neill.

The Trinity immunologist was speaking as a Dublin grandmother prepares to become the first person to get the vaccine in the Republic.

Around 2,000 doses will be administered in four hospitals across the country in the coming days before the rollout moves to nursing homes next week.

On Late Breakfast with Mark Cagney this morning, Professor O’Neill said the vaccines will mark the “biggest medical advance in 100 years when we look back on it.”

“The virus was only described on January 12th and within nine or ten months alter we have a vaccine in humans, it is incredible,” he said.

“It is understandable people are anxious, asking how we can do this so fast and there is hesitancy but all we can do is reassure them.

“The main reason is that if you put money into something, things will go faster. That is what happened here, they put thousands of people on the case.”

Scientific advances

Professor O’Neill said he struggles to sleep some nights with excitement about the scientific advances in recent months.

“The rate of science in this is remarkable,” he said. “Every morning I wake up and there is new science about this virus.

“We are learning about viruses more generally and about the immune system more generally – all of this will be applicable outside COVID.”

He said the new vaccines could lead to breakthroughs against the other viruses that plague the world.

“I had a meeting yesterday afternoon with a couple of companies about vaccine development and they are all going to start using this technology now,” he said.

“If you can crack COVID, why not crack malaria or flu or all these other ones? There is massive optimism now that other infectious diseases will become more tractable.”

Influenza

Professor O’Neill said flu still kills half a million people around the world every year.

“The vaccine is about 50% or 60% efficacious,” he said. “It is OK, it doesn’t work great, it works a bit and it saves some people – but can you imagine if we had a vaccine that was 95% efficacious?

“That is now within sight because this technology could be used now against flu.”

Dengue Fever

“Dengue is the other one,” he said. “That is number two on the list. It is like a rogue’s gallery of the most dangerous viruses in terms of deaths an illness and Dengue is number two.

“It effects up to 100 million people a year, it is a horrible viral disease, you get a lot of death and illness and 20% of people at the severe end are really badly affected.

“There is a vaccine but it’s not great and again now Dengue will be in the sights now.”

MERS

“Then there is MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome),” he said.

“That is in the same family as COVID-19 but it is more vicious. They began to make a bit of progress on it but now of course, we could see another vaccine against MERS.”

Professor O’Neill said the potential advances are not just limited to viruses.

“Then you get to Malaria which isn’t a virus, it is parasite,” he said. “That is killing one million people a year and there are one or two vaccines that are working a bit there.

“What we are learning from COVID is we can beat a nasty pathogen with these newer approaches so the vista is really quite positive when it comes to treating these other infectious diseases.”